


The Celestial Princess (A NaLu Fairy Tail Fanfic)

by Goldenfire152



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Anime, Demons, F/M, Magic, Manga, ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 01:04:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 29,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20219239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldenfire152/pseuds/Goldenfire152
Summary: Prince Natsu and Princess Lucy had always hated each other. At least, that's what they thought. Their parents, Queen Erza and King Jellal had been trying to get their children to fall in love their whole lives. But after a ball, something happens that causes King Jellal's death and Princess Lucy to go missing. Now it's up to Natsu and his exceed Happy to find Lucy and defeat a powerful threat.I don't own fairy tail or the beautiful cover photo.





	1. Chapter 1

  
  
  
  
  
  


Mard Geer was being banished. Banished for planning to kill the king and princess of Fiore and taking the throne. His long black hair was in a ponytail, and his face was pissed off. He shot a light skinned hand at King Jellal, pointing a finger right at him. “Just you wait Jellal, soon everything you have will be mine!” Mard Geer yelled at the dark blue haired king with a red birthmark on half his face. “We'll see Mars Geer. We'll see” Jellal said before the black hair wizard turned and walked into the forest.  _ Now that this is taken care of, I can go to my daughter's ball _ , Jellal thought as he mounted his horse and ride off to the castle. After all, his daughter Lucy had just turned one year old, and Queen Erza had her son Prince Natsu, who was only three years older .

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Five years later, Lucy was on her father's lap, while he was steering his horse down a stone path that lead to Queen Erza's Castle. They'd be staying here for the whole summer like the king and Queen discussed on Lucy's first birthday. Each year Jellal would bring his daughter to the queen's kingdom in hopes of their children eventually falling in love so the two kingdoms would unite. “Good day Queen Erza. Prince Natsu” King Jellal said as he bowed, Lucy doing the same. Queen Erza was a tall woman with long scarlet hair, while Prince Natsu was, of course, a child with short pink hair, onyx eyes, and light skin. Lucy herself had medium length blond hair and big brown doe eyes. All of a sudden, the two were pushed in front of the other. The second their eyes locked they knew… that they  _ hated _ each other. Well, actually the two children didn't know what they felt, but they thought it was hate. And they still had to talk to each other. When the two children turned back to their parents, they were both silently told to go back to what they had to do. “Nice to meet you Princess Lucy” Natsu said glaring at her. “Nice to meet you too, Prince Natsu” Lucy said bowing.  _ This is going to a  _ long _ summer _ , Natsu thought.

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Natsu and Lucy were now preteens. And they still hated each other. No one really knew why, but they just did. And Lucy was still a good fighter, but she didn't have as much fighting spirit as she did when she was younger. And today was no different. Lucy ran after Natsu, who was, of course, away from Lucy. But he was slower than usual because he was carrying Happy, a blue and white exeed. He only talked a bit, saying “Aye sir!”, “fishies”, and “Ahhhh! Scary Lucy monster!” since he was so young. “Come back here you chicken! I'll teach you not to call me a psycho!” Lucy called, starting to catch up. “Well why do you think I called you that! Your chasing me like a psycho!” Natsu called back, climbing up his homemade tree fort. Although, it was still under construction and not well built yet. Before Lucy could reach the rope ladder, Natsu pulled it up so the blond haired princess couldn't reach him. “Fishies” Happy said in a kitten voice. “Your hungry now!” Natsu exclaimed. Meanwhile, Lucy was steaming, mad, ticked off. In a fit of rage, Lucy kicked one of the wooden support beams, breaking it. The whole fort came falling down. Luckily, Natsu grabbed Happy and jumped down right before the blond haired girl broke the fort. “Baka” Natsu groaned on the ground. They both ended up grounded for the whole summer and left with a broken arm. “Better luck next year” Erza said to Jellal before he left. “I hope so” the blue haired king said to himself.

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Teens. That's what they were now, teens. But time had been kind to both the prince and princess. They had become smarter, stronger, and gained magical powers of their own. Natsu became known as Salamander the Fire Dragon Slayer and Lucy gained ten of twelve zodiac keys and some silver keys as a celestial wizard. Not to mention she became more beautiful, and Natsu became more handsome. Not in the other person's opinion of course. They  _ still _ hated each other. But they now fought with card games, playful word banter, and glares. Lucy became more ladylike, while Natsu became, well, dense. Natsu was watching Sting, one of the castle's best guards, flirting with Lucy. “Are you jeeeeealous?” Happy asked in a taunting voice. “What! No!” Natsu exclaimed at his exeed. “Lucy, why don't you and Natsu take a carriage ride through the city?” Erza suggested. “Alright” Lucy said with a small smile, but Natsu could see it was a annoyed smile. A smile that said, annoy me and I'll kill you with a song in my heart! Giving his mother a small glare, Natsu groaned and forces himself into the carriage with Happy following behind him. “I think it'll go well, what about you?” Erza asked the blue haired king. As if on cue, the two parents immediately heard their children fighting. “We'll need a miracle to happen” Jellal stated. “Agreed” Erza said.

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Lucy and Natsu were being pushed towards the ballroom by their parents. Eighteen year old Lucy was in her most beautiful ball gown, while twenty-one year old Natsu was in his best suit. “Please don't make me!” Natsu said to Happy. “If you don't do this you'll have to face your Mom! Would you rather face Lucy or your Mom?” Happy told Natsu. Natsu had to think about this. Lucy could be pretty scary and brutal. One of the most brutal people he knew. On the other hand was his mother... “Lucy's definitely less scary” Natsu stated before he was pushed out a door and into the ballroom where Lucy was. They both expected to see nothing but hate I'm the other person's eyes. But the second their eyes met, the world stopped. Their knees shook, hearts beat faster, and they couldn't look away.  _ What the heck is wrong with me? _ , Natsu and Lucy thought. Then, Natsu smiled.  _ I never noticed how handsome Natsu's smile is _ , Lucy thought as she walked towards Natsu. The pink haired dragon slayer unconsciously did the same, not really knowing what else to do. Taking a bow, both the prince and princess began to dance. They danced for who knows how long, unaware of the number of guest that have arrived. When the guest arrived, they couldn't be more surprised. Especially King Jellal and Queen Erza, sure they hoped that the ball idea would work, but they didn't actually think it would. As the song ended, everyone's hearts stopped at the prince's words, “We should get married”. “What!” the whole room yelled in sync, including Lucy. “Wait a minute! You can't just say that, you have to have a reason” Lucy explained. “What reason?” Natsu asked. Lucy couldn't help but facepalm her forehead.  _ I knew he was dense, but not  _ this  _ dense! _ , Lucy thought. “Well, You have to be in love” Lucy further explained. “I thought we were” Natsu said surprised. He knew he was in love, but he didn't know about Lucy. “Really? What do you love about me then?” Lucy asked. “Well, ummm” Natsu started, waiting for an idea to come to mind. But it never came. Lucy sighed heart broken. “I thought so” she said, walking away. The next day, her father thought it would be best to go home. “No one can say we didn't try. Lucy, say good bye” Jellal said, he and Lucy outside their carriage. “Good bye Natsu” Lucy said before she and her father stepped into the carriage. Natsu looked sadly at the carriage that was leaving the castle. “You ok Natsu?” Happy asked. “Yeah, I just had time Happy” the dragon slayer told his exeed. 

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Lucy and her father were halfway to the ship that would take them home, night had just come upon them. “I told you, I needed to know if he truly loved me” Lucy explained for the fifteenth time. “From personal experience, I think the boy was just nervous. You did put him on the spot” Jellal said. Suddenly, the carriage was flipped over onto its side. Standing up, the blue haired king climbed out of the door to see what happened. Lucy sat up, clutching her head, and listening for her father. “It's you! What do you want!” Lucy heard her father call out to a voice before crying out in pain. “Dad! What's happening!” Lucy said, reaching for her celestial keys and climbing out to see her father on the ground, blood coming from a giant scratch. He appeared to unconscious, and losing too much blood. “Hold still princess” a dark voice said behind Lucy. The next thing she knew, she was being surrounded by light, pain coursing through her. The light was practically a beacon in the night, it could be seen for miles and miles. Meanwhile while, Natsu and Happy were playing chess. And Natsu had just lost his queen. “On come on! That's twice in one day!” Natsu growled at the game board. Their game was interrupted by a bright light. “Natsu, it looked close to where Lucy was” Happy said. “Then let's go see what it was” Natsu said as Happy picked him up and flew him towards the light. When they got there, all that remained were the carriage, and King Jellal, and Lucy's celestial keys. “Natsu” Happy said quietly, pointing at King Jellal, who was half awake. Natsu ran at the king's side. “What happened here?” Natsu asked, as he tried to stop the bleeding. “Natsu, I need you to look for Lucy, don't ever stop. And be prepared for the biggest fight of your life” Jellal said, closing his eyes. “What do you think happened to Lucy?” Happy asked, crying a little. “I don't know, but I'll find her if it's the last thing I do” Natsu said as he stated at the good and silver keys of the women he loved.  _ Don't worry Lucy, I'll find you _ , Natsu thought determinedly. And he would, if it was the last thing he did in this life.


	2. Chapter 2

  
  
  
  
  
  


When Lucy woke up the next day, something felt different. She should know because of all the pranks Natsu had pulled on her as a child. And something felt, … wet. Opening her eyes, Lucy saw that she was at a beautiful pond. And behind it, was an old castle that looked like it hasn't used in years, the rising moon almost over the tallest tower. Standing up, the blond mage felt that her arms had an extra wieght. Looking down, Lucy was surprised to find that she was in the water. As she looked at the water, the blond haired celestial mage noticed something. Had reflection wasn't there. Instead was the reflection of fire phoenix. “What the heck!” Lucy yelled as she stumbled out of the water, while repeatedly tripping over her claws. When she was on dry land, Lucy lifted her bright orange and gold wings.  _ What the heck happened? _ , Lucy asked herself. Then, the memories of ,what she guessed were, the day before. A mournful tear slipped itself from her eye and down onto the ground.  _ Dads dead. That man killed him without a second thought _ , Lucy thought. “Ah, you're awake. Glad to see I didn't accidentally kill you” a dark voice said behind Lucy. As she turned around, she knew who this man was. She learned about him from her lessons as a child. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Mard Geer” the raven haired man said, quickly bowing before the phoenix and standing straight. Lucy only glared at him, causing Mars Geer to annoyingly frown. “If you're thinking that there's no way to turn into a human again, your wrong. If you're on the pond when the moon shines its light on the water, you'll turn back into your human self. Now if you don't mind, please step in. I don't have all night and you were already asleep for the whole day” Mard Geer told the phoenix, pointing towards the pond. Slowly stepping towards the water, Lucy was cautious in case it was a trap of some sort. Finally, she jumped in. Looking up, the moon was shining down on the crystal clear pond. Then, the water beneath Lucy started to glow, and rise. It was surrounding her in an orb of glowing water. And when it all disappeared, Lucy looked at her reflection to see her face and blond hair. She also noticed her clothes were a bit different but she didn't care. Immediately the celestial mage’s hand went to her side, expecting to feel her keys in her grasp. “Oh, you didn't have your keys when you were transformed” Mard Geer told her as the blond haired woman shipped her head around. “Why am I here!” Lucy yelled. “I want your kingdom. But legally” Mars Geer said. “What do you mean?” Lucy asked nervously, scared of where this will lead. “You're the only heir to the throne and to attain it legally, marriage is the only way” he said simply. “Why not take it by force! By now, you already have enough power” Lucy yelled angrily. “I don't have enough, but I am still the most powerful mage in all the known kingdoms. But once you lose power, you become desperate to gain it back and to keep it” the dark man explained. “I'll never hand my father's kingdom to you! So that means I won't be marrying you anytime soon” Lucy said glaring daggers at her captor, plenty of venom in her voice. “Very well. And before you run away, know that when the sun rises you’ll turn back into a phoenix. No matter where you are” Mars Gear told the princess as he disappeared into the darkness. Lucy could feel herself tearing up, but she force them back. This was not a time to cry. Not now. Right now Lucy had to find a way to escape. She looked around at her surrounding to find nothing but willow trees as her wall.  _ This is hopeless _ , Lucy thought. At that moment, all the memories she had with Natsu came up in her head. The fights, the pranks, being forced to play nice with one another. She then realized she’d been in love from the start, she just didn't know. And now, Lucy didn't even know if she’d see Natsu again. Once again the princess felt tears coming, only this time she couldn't stop them as they built up in her eyes. All she could think about was Natsu. “Why did I even leave in the first place?” Lucy whispered to herself.  _ You left because you felt heart broken idiot _ , the blonde haired celestial mage thought to herself. “Don't worry Natsu, I swear I'll see you again. If it's the last thing I do” Lucy promised. 

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The sun had just began to rise. Beginning to be surrounded by glowing pond water, the blond haired mage stood in the pond water. When the transformation was done, there stood Lucy as a fire phoenix. “If I'm going to get out of here, I need to learn to fly” Lucy told herself as she tried to flap at a steady pace. It didn't go as planned, with the princess either leaning too far to the right, or too far to the left. And not ended with her falling face first into the ground. She couldn't stop the growl that dark from her throat. It was harder than it looked.  _ How do birds do this everyday! _ , Lucy thought as she got back up. And once again, she tried and failed. Over and over and over again.  _ I'm getting nowhere this way _ , Lucy thought as she sat on a rock. She looked at the willow trees surrounding the pond and castle, until an idea came into her head. Jumping from the rock, the fire phoenix started to climb. Finally on the first branch, Lucy spread her wings and jumped off the branch. She smoothly glided onto the ground, having a bit of a tumble.  _ I wonder if anyone thinks I’m even still alive _ , Lucy though while she just laid there on the ground. After a while, Lucy got up and practices gliding again and again. She had to be strong After all, she couldn't really get out of here and find Natsu unless she learned to fly.


	3. Chapter 3

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Five months. It has been officially five months since Princess Lucy had gone missing and Natsu had been training non-stop, as well as searching for her. He tried everything, from searching spells to tracking her through his powerful nose, to searching for her with dream spells. Nothing was working so far. Even his vast library had nothing that had worked. But he still read through the books and searched the library for answers. And what was his mother doing at the time of all this? Queen Erza was trying to get her pink haired son with some other princesses, and practically brutally force him to attend her royal balls or other boring social events that she set up every now and then, interrupting his training time or research. Like exactly now, for example. While Queen Erza was hosting a small party, mingling with the guests and what not, Happy was able to sneak Natsu out so they could train some more. Words could not expressed his relief, so he basically summed them up. “Thanks Happy, I owe you one” Natsu told the blue exeed who was flying beside him. “Please, You don't owe me anything Natsu. After all, I was  _ saving _ you from one of the worst punishments Erza has come up with” Happy said. “Good point” the rosey pink haired fire dragon slayer said to his friend as a shiver ran down his spine. Royal events. It really was the worst punishment for Natsu, and he knew Erza had to know it too. It's not that Erza was mean or anything, she was just, well… let's say she was determined in a really weird way. But she was a great mother, caring, beautiful and strong. She was probably the strongest mage in the kingdom, with her having the ability to have magic armor and all. She taught Natsu almost everything he knew. But she was still pretty strict, and he was  _ not _ going to another party for half the day when he could be using that time to train. Like Jellal said, he should be prepared to fight the biggest battle of his life, but what Natsu really took to heart was to never stop looking for Lucy. And he hasn't, which was probably the reason his mother worried about him half the time. Happy surprised Natsu by flying straight for him, and if not for Natsu's quick reflexes, they two friends would have painfully collided. But instead, Natsu turned so he was facing Happy and caught his soft blue head like a fist. The only difference was that Natsu caught Happy's head more gently. “Com’on Natsu! We gotta train if we want to save Lucy!” Happy exclaimed as he detached his head from the fire dragon’s firm grip. “All right! Let's do this Happy!” Natsu exclaimed, putting his fist in the air with determination. “Aye sir!” Happy replied.

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“I don't know if I can do this!” Natsu very nervously told Happy as he was seventy feet in the air. “Well, the way I see it is if you can survive a fall from seventy feet up, you can live through anything” Happy stated with a smug face, his tail and pass listening their grip on Natsu's shirt. “I'm sorry I ate your fish! It won't happen again! Just put me on the ground!” Natsu pleaded with his blue exeed friend. “Alright, fine. I'll put you on the ground” Happy said as he  _ let go _ of Natsu. “THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT!!!!” Natsu yelled at Happy, who was floating down peacefully. Natsu was freaking out , flailing his arms and legs out. With the ground coming close, Natsu looked around for anything that could be useful. All he saw were tall trees.  _ Wait! That's it! _ , the pink haired fire dragon slayer thought as he formed a plan. Fire shot out of his mouth as his back faces the trees. And just as he had hoped, Natsu fell, or floated, towards the tree tops. And before he could even think, Natsu crashed threw all of the branches. Each branch or leaf hitting, smacking, scratching, or whipping his fair skin. By the time he landed on the ground, face down and created a small crater on the ground, Natsu felt as though  _ all _ his bones were broken. Since he was a mage, his body was physically stronger by a looooooong shot, being able to take on  _ much _ bigger hits than a normal human. But that didn't mean the pain was lessened a lot. “What the  _ hell _ Happy! I could have died!” Natsu yelled at his friend. “We both know that if I truly questioned weather if you lived or died I wouldn't have put you on the ground” Happy said using his teacher voice, his eyes closed, hands behind his back, and a small but cute smile on his face. “You dropped me!” Natsu corrected Happy. “Thats besides the point. We oughta get back home” Happy said looking as the rising moon.  _ Man, Mom's gonna kill me for sneaking out _ and  _ coming home late _ , Natsu thought, getting up. It was a painful walk back home to the castle. At least on the way back Natsu and Happy made up and apologized to each other. Nastu for eating Happy’s prized fish snack, and Happy for “trying to put Natsu back safely on the ground”. Natsu figured it was his way of saying ‘sorry I dropped you from seventy feet up’. They were scared when they were in front of the door, fearing it Natsu mother was in the other side. And they were both welcomed with a steaming mad Erza when the came back home. Go figure,Natsu and Happy couldn't get away with anything again. “What were you two doing for the whole day when you were gone?” Erza asked using her calm, yet strict mother voice. And that's when you knew all kinds of shit was about to get real in that room. In a matter seconds, all of the castle workers hurried and rushed out of the entrance room, some even  _ praying  _ to Mavis for Natsu to end up ok in the long run. “Well, you see, me and Happy were training some more. You know, since Jellal said I'd have to” Natsu explained, his voice pretty much made out of fear itself. Happy slowly started to fly away, until Erza told him to get back here. “Now, my question is what should your punishment be for sneaking out  _ and  _ then coming back home late,  _ and  _ while having bruises and blood all over you” the scarlet haired queen said to her son and his best friend. “Since you two wanted to train, you'll have to train with me now” Erza said when she made up her mind.

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Everything hurt for Natsu and Happy. Their bones hurt, their muscles hurt, everything. Then again, that's what happens when really anyone fights the queen. It even hurt laying down in bed. As Natsu went to sleep, something shined in his eyes. Opening them, he saw Lucy's gold and silver celestial keys on his small table where the moon, high in the sky, was shining its pale light into them.  _ You hang in there Luce, I'm coming for ya _ , Natsu thought as he fell asleep. Unknown to anyone, Lucy looked up at the night sky. She had just turned Mard Geer’s marriage proposal when she heard something crash into one of the willow trees. Rushing over to see what it was, she was that it was a small white owl with light blue wings and brown eyes had an arrow in her wing.


	4. Chapter 4

  
  
  
  
  


Lucy ran over to the pond with the little white owl safely in her arms. Once there, Lucy examined the owl only to find the only injury was the arrow. “Aww, poor thing” Lucy whispered to herself, while snapping the wooden arrow in half. The owl have put a cry that almost sounded, well… human.  _ That can't be right _ , Lucy though. The blond haired women ripped off a long strip of the hem of her dress. Then after pulling out the half of the arrow that was stuck in the owl's wing, Lucy then wrapped up the little owl’s wing with the ripped off piece of cloth, the blood being soaked up and showing through the makeshift bandage. Now all she had to do was wait for the little owl to wake up, if she ever did anyway.  _ Don't you dare think like that! This little owl will make it _ , Lucy thought determinedly as she waited.

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After what felt like almost half the night to Lucy, the white owl started to stir from her peaceful sleep. Opening its eyes, the owl immediately staggered back at the sight of a human. “Please don't hurt me! I don't even taste that good!” the owl pleaded, it's fearful voice sounded of that if a kind child. “You can talk?!” Lucy said, more surprised than any other emotion she felt right now. “Well if course I can, I'm actually originally human!” the owl explained. “Really?” Lucy asked, slowly walking back towards the owl. No, child really. “Yeah. But, how did I end up here? The last thing I remember was getting chased by a hunter,” the child told Lucy. “Well, actually, you crash landed here, and you had an arrow through your wing. So I patched you, see?” Lucy explained, pointing out the bandages wing. The owl child looked down to her wings. Lucy was proved right. “Thank you! I'm Wendy Marvell!” the white owl said, holding out her claw for a handshake, which Lucy gladly took. “I’m Lucy Heartfilia. So, how did you end up as an owl?” Lucy asked Wendy. “Well, I was a protector if my city, the most powerful one actually. I was a Sky Dragon Slayer, and I took my job seriously because the City I was protecting was Crocus, the capital of my kingdom. And at least once a week I had to stop gun or drug dealer's, but the toughest were the spies that worked for the enemies of the kingdom,” Wendy explained as she started to tear up. When Lucy was about to tell Wendy she didn't have to continue, Wendy went on with the story. “Then one day, a group of wizards just comes in to the capital. No warnings, no announcement, nothing. They just attacked, so I defended the city as best as I could. But it wasn't enough, and I got cursed. Ever since then I had been trying to find a way back to normal” Wendy said, trying to hold back the tears. “Don't worry Wendy, I'll help you. It'll be ok!” Lucy said, trying to comfort the girl. Though, she didn't really know how. She's been pretty much by herself for the past five months, and Mard Geer only came to her once or twice a day, or night. “I'll tell you what, how about we help each other out? I may not look like it, but I'm under a spell too” Lucy told Wendy, who seemed to calm down. After a year of flying around and dodging arrows, magic, and other hunting tools, it felt nice to meet someone who sort of knew what she was going through. “Really? How? Your human right now” Wendy pointed out, her hopes dropping once she realized this. “Sure, I'm human now, but I won't be for much longer,” Lucy said looking up at the starry night sky, the moon was half full and near the ground. Almost time. “In fact, it'll be about ten to twenty minutes now” Lucy said, eyeing the moon as it dipped closer and and closer to the ground where it would disappear for the rest of the day. 

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“Wow… you got a way better transformation than me!” Wendy exclaimed looking at a newly transformed fire phoenix Lucy. “Yeah, I guess. But it's painful as heck!” Lucy told Wendy stretching her wings. “Now I have to try to fly” Lucy said to herself. In the five months she's been stuck here, Lucy still hasn't learn how to fly properly for more then barely a minute. “Oh! I could help you!” Wendy offered, raising her non injured wing. “Thank Mavis! That would be great!” Lucy exclaimed as she gave the little owl girl a hug.  _ We'll both be ok, we'll get through this! _ , Wendy thought as she pulled away from Lucy's hug. “Now, let's start with learning about the important parts of flying,” Wendy started to explain to the fire phoenix.


	5. Chapter 5

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Are you sure you're ready so fast Lucy? I mean, I  _ just _ got done with the introduction speech” Wendy asked the fire phoenix with a worried voice. She had indeed just got done with her lecture about the important parts of flying, and she didn't think Lucy would want to start trying to fly the absolute second she was finished talking. “Don't worry Wendy, I've been stuck here for a few months with nothing to do but practice flying. I just needed a little help!” Lucy smiled, climbing up a willow tree. “Then why are you starting off with jumping from a tree? Why don't you start flying to a tree” the little owl asked nervously as Lucy made her way to the first branch she came across. “Because, if I'm able to start off from here, then flying from the ground will be a cinch!” Lucy explained, as she got herself ready to jump off. The morning sun reflected off of her fiery red and golden feathers. “That doesn't make any sense though! If you don't start off small you could hurt yourself really badly!” Wendy warned with worry laced in her. “Wendy, I'll be fine. Now, tell me what I have to work on when I land, ok?” Lucy said, waiting for a response. But the only response the fire phoenix for was a nod from the little white owl. With a technical yes from the child, Lucy took off. She flew off of the tree branch, making sure to get plenty of thrust when she flapped her wings.  _ I'm doing it! _ , Lucy cried in her head as she stayed flew three the air. Then she realized one thing wrong with her plan. She didn't know how to steer  _ or  _ land. Out of instinct, or just pure terror, she stopped flapping her wings, folding them at her side and tightly closed her eyes. Agreed, it was a dumb move. And sadly, Lucy realized her mistake too late.“Ahhhhhhhhh!” the fire phoenix cried as she came closer and closer to the ground with each passing second. Then, just as Lucy was a few seconds from crash landing, the golden phoenix felt herself stop in mid air. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw a flapping Wendy strongly holding her up by her golden red wings. She was using her injured wing, and it was obvious that the pain was unbearable for her to stand much longer. Quickly, Wendy safely put Lucy on the ground, tears in her eyes from the pain from the pain in her wing. “What were you thinking Lucy! You could have gotten hurt, and I would have no way of healing you!” Wendy yelled at the fire phoenix. “I think it's time you told me why you're here now, because you seem rather desperate to escape from here” Wendy said sternly.  _ She's right. I'm an adult, I should have known better. And yet a child had to save me from my own stupid mistake. Some princess you are Lucy, what would Dad say? _ , Lucy thought sadly, quite disappointed in herself. “All right, but I'll have to start from the beginning though” Lucy told Wendy, who only settled down so she could be comfortable during the story.

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Natsu woke up feeling sore all over his body. The fire dragon couldn't help but groan in pain as he sat up in his bed. The pink haired man shuffled out of bed to start his morning. First taking a shower which took a bit longer than usual, mostly because his legs have out a few times. No matter what he did to cause himself pain was nothing compared to The Mighty Queen Erza. And being her son who did something wrong only made it worse. After the shower, Natsu got dressed and went downstairs so he could eat breakfast already. When he stepped into the kitchen, Happy had already everything up. “This is the day I break out the Natsu!” Happy exclaimed as he eyes the two tall stacked of pancakes. One of Natsu and Happy’s favorite talents was their ability to eat huge amounts of food in less than thirty seconds. The problem was, the two were evenly matched. Which meant they could only compete against each other in hopes of winning. “No chance pal! I'M GONNA WIN!” Natsu said as he grabbed one pancake and are it at the same time as Happy. Long story short, it ended in yet another tie. Now it was off to the library to possibly find a clue to Lucy's location. Natsu was horrible at research, but he tried his best for Lucy's sake. She was always better at this sort of stuff, with books and all. Having Happy there was a huge help, and today was no different. “Hey Natsu! I found a dusty book that's supposed to have a list of Lucy's kingdom’s enemies” Happy called, carrying a dusty brown book. “That's great! Good thinking buddy!” Natsu exclaimed as Happy dropped the book book into the wooden table, creating a big dust cloud. “That's more dust than I thought there would be” Happy mumbled to himself. The two stared at the boom when Natsu opened it to reveal all the enemies of King Jellal and his kingdom.  _ Jees, who knew there'd be so many! _ , Natsu thought as he flipped to the more recent part of the book. His eyes stopped at the picture of a man with a long black long tail, his face calm yet dangerous. He read the description which said:  _ Mard Geer was a powerful demon, using curses instead of magic and often is referred to as The Underworld King. Mard Geer was planning to overthrow the king and take the kingdom as his own, planning to take over the world and open a gate to the demon world which would bring untold chaos. Thankfully, King Jellal discovered his plans and put a stop to him in an epic battle, resulting in Mard Geer being banished. Many feared the king to merciful when Mard Geer threatened to come back and take back the kingdom. _

“Happy, I think we found out who just took Lucy and killed Jellal” the pink haired dragon slayer told his blue exeed friend. “Aye sir, me too” Happy said, agreeing with his friend as they stared at the picture of the sinister Mard Geer on the book.  _ At least we know who took you Luce, now all we have to do is find you _ , Natsu thought. This day was getting better, all the way until his mother came barging into to room all happy and giddy which only meant one thing.  _ A  _ **BALL** , Natsu thought horrified.


	6. Chapter 6

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Natsu, what are we going to do! Your Mom won't let us skip it _and_ she'll increase the normal number of guards” Happy yell whispered. “I don't know, but I'll figure something out” Natsu whispered back. “Natsu, you know your brain isn't very reassuring right?” Happy said plainly. “Why you little-” Natsu started until his mother interrupted. “Natsu! I have great news” Erza said with a warm smile on her face. _Gee, I wonder what it is!_, the pink haired man sarcastically thought. _Natsu_ and Happy just plastered a smile on their faces and turned around to face the scarlet haired queen. “Really? What is it?” Natsu asked, trying to sound surprised or at least a little curious. “I’m having a ball. A small get together really. And I expect you to actually attend, and _stay_ there” Erza said, trying to make a clear note to her son. “When is it?” the blue exeed asked. “Tomorrow night” Queen Erza answered simply. “And you didn't think to tell us sooner?!” Natsu and Happy asked, surprised by the close date. The two would have guessed the ball to be somewhere next week, five days later at least. “Well, if I told you sooner, that would have given you plenty of precious time to create a plan so you could be able sneak out” Erza said, her voice holding a deadly warning that could scare a full grown dragon. “What? Why would we escape?” Happy asked nervously. “Oh, no other reason except that you two have done just that _every time_” Erza said. It was _almost_ true. Natsu and Happy had some how managed to escape pretty much every ball. _Well not this time_, Erza thought as she looked at her son and his exeed. “Not _every time_. Natsu was practically glued to the dance floor at that one ball” Happy stated, remembering Natsu stuck at the ball. “I don't care. You're going to this ball tomorrow” the scarlet haired queen said sternly. “Now, I have to go prepare for the ball. You are not to leave the castle” Erza said as she walked out of the library. “Did you come up with a plan?” Happy asked the fire dragon. “Yup. We sneak out at midday, after lunch!” Natsu said with a smile plastered on his face. “Oh boy” Happy said face palming his little blue for head. _This will be a loooooong day_, Happy thought, not sure if he would be able to handle it all. “Natsu? Where are you going?” Happy asked, when he saw Natsu was walking out of the library. “Well, we have to get ready. We only have a few hours” Natsu said as he dashed to his room. He didn't even bother to close the grand library doors. Happy sighed. _Well, this is going to be a fun day_, he thought as he flew to catch up with his pink haired friend.

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“That is the most tragically beautiful story I have ever heard!” Wendy dramatically sobbed. Lucy had just finished her own “tale of woe”, and was surprised by Wendy's uncontrollable crying. “It's not that tragic!” Lucy exclaimed to the little white owl. “Y-you lost your father in an event that pretty much o-only happens in books, and on top of that you c-can't even find the love of your life because you're stuck i-in this heck of a prison!” Wendy cried, still unable to stop being dramatic. “Well when you put it that way…” Lucy mumbled to herself. “That's it! I'm tired of demons ruining lives just to get what they want! I'm sick of it. Come on Lucy, by lunch time you'll be flying like a pro!” Wendy said, her dramatic crying long gone, and standing up as tall was she could with determination written all over her face. “I don't know, I mean lunch is only a few hours away” Lucy said, unsure about this new side of Wendy.  _ I don't know if I should be worried, happy, or what _ , Lucy thought in her head. “Don't worry, I’ll take care of this Lucy. If we really try, you might be able to have time left to go find Natsu and lead him here to the pond” Wendy said as she climbed on to the rock on the edge of the pond. “Now Lucy, I’m going to need you to listen to me very carefully. Ok?” Wendy said, convinced that her plan sounded perfect. “Umm, Wendy? How am I going to FREAKING FLY BY LUNCHTIME?!” Lucy exclaimed, trying to get the point across to her friend. “Hard work my friend. Hard work” Wendy said simply.

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Lucy couldn’t believe it, Wendy was actually able to teach her to fly by midday.  _ Sure, I may have had a few heart attacks. But I did it! _ , Lucy thought as she did summer salts in the air with ease. “Enough, Lucy. You need to go look now, but I doubt you’ll find anything on your first night” Wendy said. “But I have hope. And I believe hope will help” Lucy said as she took off. In the first hour of her expedition, she was determined, leaving no stone unturned. She checked every area making sure to still be able to find her way back to the pond. The second hour, Lucy was still determined, but farther away. By the third hour, she was wasn't really sure she’d find anything. Not tonight anyway. The sun was almost ready to sink under the ground, tired of it’s day in the sky. “Aaaahhhhgggg! Why can’t I find anything!” Lucy yelled out in frustration.  _ I don’t even know here I am! I’m just lucky enough to know how to get back _ , Lucy thought as she landed on a tree branch with ease, thanks to Wendy of course. Lucy looked up at the goldening sky, wondering if her father was watching. Just because he was dead didn’t mean he could still watch over. Lucy often talked to her father, mostly when she really needed a good talk. But she rarely asked him for anything, and this was one of those rare times. “Please Dad, if I could just get a little bit of help,” Lucy whispered, hoping he would be kind enough to answer her prayer. A moment later she slowly opened her eyes, hoping to see some kind of sign that her father had helped her. But Lucy only opened her eyes to see nothing new had happened. Looking at the sun one last time, the fire phoenix thought it would be best to start heading back. After all, she couldn't let Mard Geer find her little owl friend. It would not end well. Then, just as Lucy was about to take off, she spotted something, or  _ someone  _ walking along the forest ground. In a heartbeat, Lucy flew down so she could get a closer look. She couldn't believe who she saw. “Natsu” Lucy whispered to herself as the pink haired man looked around, his blue exeed not far behind him.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Lucy was instantly overcome by an emotion she hadn’t fully felt in a long time, pure happiness. In fact, the fire phoenix could feel happy tears starting to build up in her eyes. Realizing she had a mission to complete, Lucy wiped her eyes and flew in closer.  _ How can I get Natsu to follow me back to the pond? _ , Lucy asked herself as she followed the pink haired dragon slayer around the forest. “Natsu, we didn’t find anything here last time, what makes you think we’ll find something here  _ again _ ?” Happy asked as he looked around the area, looking for anything new that could lead to Lucy’s where abouts. “I don’t know, I just got that weird feeling” Natsu told the blue exeed. “That’s what you said when we looked in the mountains, we ended up getting chased by vulcans and stuck in the never ending caves for the whole day!” Happy exclaimed. Lucy’s heart practically burst right there on the branch.  _ He never stopped looking for me _ , Lucy thought happily. She always thought Natsu had given up, and now she knew he pretty much searched the whole kingdom. “Well this time it’s a good feeling” Natsu muttered to himself as he stepped over a log. Then all of a sudden, the pink haired man stopped.  _ Why’d he stop? _ , Lucy asked in her head as she watched intently. “Happy, I feel like we’re being watched” Natsu stated, actually sounding serious for once.  _ Great. Now he’s going to sniff out the are- wait, that’s it! _ , Lucy thought, instantly starting to form a plan in her head. After flying down onto a closer branch, lucy made sure she would be able to be easily spotted. “Natsu!” Lucy yelled, knowing very well that the two boys wouldn't hear her voice, but the proud call of a phoenix. Natsu and Happy turned their heads when they both heard the cry of a bird. They were surprised to find a red and gold fire phoenix standing on a tree branch. As Natsu looked at the magical creature in wonder, his powerful nose picked up a scent he hadn't smelled in a long time. “Lucy?” Natsu said to himself, wondering how the phoenix could possibly smell Lucy.  _ That's it. Now to just lead him back to the pond _ , Lucy thought as she took off towards the direction of the magical pond. “Come on Happy!” Natsu said pointing to his back. Knowing what his friend meant, Happy latched onto his friend's back and flew after the strange phoenix. Lucy looked up at the sky to find out that the sun was starting to set.  _ No! I gotta go faster _ , Lucy said picking up her speed, with Happy doing the same. “Natsu! Do you know where this birds taking us?” Happy asked through the wind that was blowing past their heads. “No, but it has Lucy’s scent!” Natsu answered back. Happy nodded and just decided to follow the phoenix. After all, Natsu’s nose was  _ never  _ wrong. As the sun got lower and the glowing crescent moon got higher, Lucy panicked more. Then, she was finally relieved when she saw the pond ahead. By the time she landed, the moon was already up in the sky. “Are you ready?” Wendy asked, standing next to the fire phoenix. “Ready as I’ll ever be” Lucy answered. Happy landed gracefully Natsu on the ground, where they both became generally confused. Why would a phoenix bring them to an old abandoned castle? Why were they brought to the pond? Why did a bird smell like a person?! The two turned their heads to look around, hoping to see if there was anything that could give them a clue. When the floating blue exeed turned to the direction of the pond, his eyes widened and his mouth practically dropped to the ground. “Natsu, look!” Happy said pointing at the phoenix, who was slowly climbing the the water. The moon light seemed to naturally flow into it’s wings. Then, they watched with wonder as the the water seemed to glow and rise, surrounding the creature in an orb of glowing water. But when the water lost it’s magical glow and began to fall back to the pond, Natsu just stared. There was Lucy, alive and well in a flowing white dress. “Hey Natsu! How have you been?” Lucy asked. She could feel her eyes starting to well up with happy tears, and this time she let them fall. Natsu ran as fast as he could to the pond, splashing the clear water as he ran. The next thing Lucy knew, she was being hugged tightly and lifted off the ground. Natsu held her up, just twirling her in the air. Once she was set on the ground, she felt Natsu push his lips against hers, in a loving kiss. And she kissed back. The kiss itself was short and sweet, but it felt like a thousand years to Natsu and Lucy. It was one of the greatest moment in their lives, only it was a moment that was greatly overdue. When they broke away from the kiss, Natsu pulled Lucy into a tight and loving hug, with Lucy hugging back. “I thought I’d never see you again” Natsu whispered into Lucy’s ear. “What do you think I thought baka” Lucy whispered back, hugging him a little tighter. As the pink haired man pulled back a bit, he wiped the celestial mages tears away with his thumbs. “Well I never stopped looking” Natsu told Lucy as he stared into her brown doe eyes. “He lllloooooooooovvvvvveeeeeesssssss herrr!” Happy exclaimed with his little blue paws on his cheeks, smiling like he would never be able to again. “Lucy! You found Natsu!” Wendy said as she walked over to the two. “Who’s this?” Natsu said, leaning down down so he could have a better look at the talking owl. “Hi, I’m Wendy. Wendy Marvell” the little white owl said holding out her claw so the dragon slayer could shake it. He did so very gently, seeing as how she was injured. “All this time, and you were here?” Happy asked Lucy. “Yeah, it’s a long story” Lucy said. “Does it involve someone named Mard Geer?” Natsu asked. “Yeah, how did you know?” Lucy asked. “We found a book on your kingdom's enemies in the library” Natsu said. “We don't have a book on our kingdom's enemies. But if it lead you to me, then thank Mavis” Lucy said, a bit confused. She knew plenty of her kingdom's history books, but she didn't think there was a book on its enemies.  _ Maybe it was written sometime after I was kidnapped _ , Lucy thought. “Lucy told me a bit about you two! Especially Natsu” Wendy said, hopping on a small rock. “And when I helped her learn how to fly, the thought seeing you guys again kept her going. No matter what!” Wendy said with a big smile on her face. Then Natsu tensed up. He looked alert, almost like he was expecting a full out magic duel. “Natsu, what is it?” Lucy asked, becoming a bit concerned. “Someone's coming” Natsu said barely above a whisper. Lucy and Wendy’s eyes widened in horror. It was Mard Geer.


	8. Chapter 8

  
  
  
  
  
  


Wendy and Lucy looked around wildly to see where they could hide Natsu and Happy.  _ This guy has horrible timing! _ , Lucy thought as she was starting to be overcome by fear. If Natsu and Happy were found out because if her, she wouldn’t forgive herself.  _ Where can they hide, where can they hide, where can they?! Wait a minute, where do  _ I  _ hide! _ , Wendy thought as the gears in her mind started to turn and click inside her head. As silent as she could be, Wendy tugged on Happy’s tail, gaining his attention. She pointed to the willow trees with her claw, hoping he would get what she meant. Happy smiled and nodded and did the same to Natsu, who also nodded and went to climb the tree as fast and quietly as he could. Lucy, during all of this, had softly walked back into the water so it would look like she had just transformed. She looked behind her to see Wendy pointing up the tree with her good wing, and Mard Geer walking up to her. “I see you just transformed my dear. Perhaps now is the best time to ask my nightly question?” he asked, walking towards the willow tree and leaning against its trunk with his arms crossed. Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy were  _ glaring _ right at Mard Geer, plus while trying not to fall down on top of the half demon. And little Wendy was perched on a branch, after getting a lift from Happy, making sure Natsu didn’t do anything stupid, like fall down out of the tree or rustle the branches. “You know that my answer is just going to be the same as all the rest of the nights, so why do you still ask?” Lucy asked, venom practically flowing from her voice like a waterfall. “I have the greatest amount patience my dear princess,” Mard Geer said.  _ At least I thought I did befor this _ , the dark wizard thought, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. “But it’s starting to wear thin” Mard Geer said with his own warning stare, his hands clenching into a fist. “Please just ask and get it over with!” Lucy exclaimed, now visibly mad. “All right, if you insist. Lucy Heartfillia, will you give me the honor of marrying me?” Mard Geer asked, bowing low for effect. Something in Natsu snapped, making him  _ furious _ . If it weren’t for the blue exeed and his powerful wings holding him back, the pink haired fire dragon would have full blown attacked the dark wizard. “My answer isn't changing. It will be, forever and always, no” Lucy said simply, turning away and crossing her arms across her chest. “Suit yourself. Perhaps you need more time to think about it” Mard Geer said as he walked back to the old dark castle. Lucy watched with hateful eyes as he walked away. “Alright. You can come down here” Lucy told Wendy, Natsu and Happy. And without warning, Natsu and Happy fell out of the willow tree, landing in a dog pile. Wendy however was given a easier way down, with Lucy offering her two hands as an elevator to the ground. They both groaned as he sat up straight. “I really don’t like that guy” Natsu said standing up, growling in the back of his throat. “Me neither. I’m sorry to say this, but you have to leave” Lucy said while sadly looking at the ground. “What?! Why?!” Natsu exclaimed. “Because Mard Geer could have sensed you magical energy. That would put you guy’s in danger” Lucy told Natsu and Happy. “Then why don’t you come back home with us? I bet someone at the castle can help you” Happy asked, standing up on his two feet. Lucy only shook her head. “I can’t. When the sun comes up I’ll be a swan again. And I have to be in the pond when the moon's to turn human again” Lucy explained. “Then meet us here tomorrow night” Natsu said. “Look at the moon,” Lucy said pointing at the glowing pure white crescent moon in the dark starry sky. “That means there won’t  _ be  _ a moon tomorrow night” Lucy told Natsu and Happy, trying to get her point across. “All right, fine. In two days then” Natsu said. “Deal” Lucy said as she started to push Natsu and Happy away. But before he could leave, Natsu turned around saying “wait!”, and kissed Lucy lovingly. Being sure to let her know that it wouldn’t be the last. “Ooooooooo! They lllllloooooovvvvvve each other!” Happy exclaimed, once again putting his paws on his cheeks, smiling wildly. “Shut up cat!” Lucy exclaimed, pulling away from Natsu. “See you soon Luce!” Natsu said, using the blond haired woman's nickname. Lucy couldn't help but blush slightly as she saw him run away.  _ But he’ll come back _ , Lucy thought as she walked back to the pond. “Cute nickname,  _ Luce _ ” Wendy teased her friend, who blushed a bright red. Wendy even though she was glowing. “Hey! Only Natsu can call me that!” Lucy said as she looked away.

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“Do you think she noticed we were gone?” Happy whispered as he and Natsu snuck into the fire dragons room through the window. “Maybe” Natsu whispered back. “That's not very reassuring!” Happy yell-whispered. Then Natsu froze, but only for a brief second. “Hurry! I hear footsteps” Natsu told Happy as they quickly climbed through the window. Just as the door opened, Natsu and Happy looked as though they had been asleep for a long time. Erza walked in, her small heels making a quiet clicking sound. She stopped right in front of her son and softly ruffling her sons hair. “Goodnight you two. You’ll need it for tomorrow” Natsu and Happy heard Erza whisper before she walked out of the room and quietly closing the door. “You know, your Mom isn't all that bad” Happy whispered as he curled up against Natsu’s leg, too tired to go to his own bed. “I know” Natsu said back as he slowly fell asleep.

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“Aaaaaaggggghhhhhh! What am I going to do! Its obvious she won't just hand over her father's kingdom!” Mard Geer shouted as he destroyed the wooden furniture with his magic. “Perhaps if I have some sort of leverage. No, too easy and not fun at all” the half demon thought as he walked back and forth, hand on his chin and thinking aloud. “But if I kill the only heir to the throne, I can rightfully claim power. I can even do it in a grand master plan of some sort” the raven haired man said, a dark evil smirk spreading onto his face. “I do belive to tables have just turned my dear princess, and what a turn it is. Especially if it means you have  _ no  _ place in the future. Then again, you  _ never _ had”. 


	9. Chapter 9

  
  
  
  
  
  


Natsu woke up feeling more happy than he had in the last few months, which caused him to smile a little bit. And he knew last night wasn’t some hopeful dream his mind conjured up either. It really, truly happened. After all the searching and heartache,Natsu finally found Lucy, alive and well. It made everything he went through worth it. It was especially satisfying to know that everyone was wrong for once, and he was right. His smile instantly disappeared when he remembered the ball his Mother had planned. He knew the reason for the ball very well too, and he didn’t like it one bit. The soul purpose for the balls his Mother threw was to try and get Natsu married. She made very clear that was her plan all along. Probably figured if he proposed to Lucy in one ball, he would do the same with some other princess.  _ Lucy was different though _ , Natsu thought inside his head as he looked at her shining gold and silver celestial keys. It must have been late morning, because even from his bed, the sun was pretty bright. As Natsu sat up in his bed, the pink haired dragon slayer noticed that his little blue friend wasn’t there with him. “Probably got woke up and ate breakfast before me” Natsu said to himself before his eyes widened to the size of the earth before taking off to the kitchen. “HE’S GOING TO EAT ALL THE FOOD!” Natsu yelled as he dashed down the stone hallways like a madman on a mission. When Natsu reached the door to kitchen, he threw it open to find Happy getting ready to eat a huge fish at least twice his size. “The heck Happy! You took the big fish all for yourself!” Natsu said, obviously mad at the blue exeed for taking the prize fish. “Well, you were asleep and I’m more hungry than you are!” Happy said, defending himself. “How do you know? What if I’m more hungry that you?” Natsu said, walking closer to the blue exeed. “I know! How about we share, you get half and I get half. That sounds about even” Natsu thought out loud. “Natsu, you don't just cut a fish like this in half” Happy said, about to take a bite out of the fish, that is until Natsu grabbed the tail and pulled it back towards him. “Just share already!” the pink haired man exclaimed angrily. “No! Not with you being a big meanie!” Happy yelled, trying pulling the fish back, now using his snow white wings. Soon enough, a full out war broke out between the two right there in the kitchen. Somewhere in the middle of the fight, a random maid walked into the kitchen to get something, only to stare shocked by the sight before her of the prince fighting with the little blue exeed, using kitchen utensils as weapons. She just slowly backed away, hoping they hadn't noticed her. After closing the door, she walked away from the room, deciding she could get what she had needed later. “I swear I don’t get paid enough for this” she mumbled under her breath as she walked away.

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“I just got a report from a maid that you two were fighting in the kitchen _again,_” Erza said with her hands on her hips, and eyes holding so much annoyance and anger that it made Natsu and Happy wish they were anywhere but here at this moment in time. “Do you care to explain?” Erza said, holding back her mother voice. “Ha ha. Well, you see, umm…” Natsu started to say but was cut off by erza who could only sigh at the moment. “Save it, I don’t need to hear your excuses. You need to start getting ready for the ball. Go to the seamstress to pick up your suit please” Erza said before walking off to the ballroom. “Well see you later Natsu” Happy said as his wings appeared. “You too Happy” Erza said, her voice echoing in the hallway. “Dang it” Happy sadly muttered under his breath. Not wanting to fly or walk, he just floated to Natsu’s head where he plopped right on top of it. “Fine” Natsu said as he walked through the castle and to the seamstress. After many turns, he finally came to a beautifully decorated door that was white, and had gold swirls all over it. He turned the golden door knob to reveal a brightly lit room filled with fabric, tables full of sewing tools, and designs all over one wall. “Why hello Natsu! Did you your mother send you to pick up your suit?” a familiar and sweet voice asked. “Sure did Mira” Natsu said turning to a woman with white hair, fair skin, and big blue eyes. “So, any luck with mission Lucy yet?” Mira asked. Despite what all the people in kingdom said, Mira believed that Lucy was still alive. From the moment she heard the news, it all sounded suspicious. Being the same age as Erza, Mira tried to tell the scarlet haired queen and get her to see reason, but she just wouldn’t listen. “Actually, we found her” Happy stated simply from Natsu’s head. “Really?! Is she ok?!” Mira asked, her eyes widening. “Yup, they even kissed twice” Happy said. “Happy!” Natsu yelled, glaring at the exeed. “That’s even better!” Mira exclaimed as she clapped her hands together. “Well then, let this ball celebrate the finding of you true love! Where is she though?” Mira asked. “Things aren’t as simple as it sounds. She’s under some sort of spell, or curse” Natsu explained to the white haired woman. “I see. I’ll look into it tonight while everyone’s at the ball. Meanwhile, you have to get ready ready” Mira said handing Natsu a white box, inside his new suit for the ball. “Do I have to?” Natsu whined. “Yes. Yes you do” Mira said before pushing Natsu out of her work place. She quickly turned to a hidden closet, which was hiding a beautiful work-in-progress wedding dress. “I guess waiting five months paid off. Well, better start finishing what I started for the future wedding!” Mira said holding up a pure silver needle and pure white thread. Meanwhile, Natsu was walking to his room with Happy still on his head. “I don't get it? Why do I have to come?” Happy complained. “Because Mom wants to keep an eye on you too” Natsu told the blue exeed. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense” Happy said. “Plus, we're _both_ being punished for sneaking and fighting over fish” Natsu said. There was a moment of silence before Happy broke it, causing them both to laugh a little. “Well, it’s not our proudest moment it it?”


	10. Chapter 10

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Wow Natsu! You don’t look half bad” Happy said as he watched as the pink haired man walk out of his closet in his new suit for the ball his mother had planned. The shirt was a pure white button up, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and of course his white cream colored scarf. Over the shirt was a gray vest with golden buttons, and he wore black dress pants that matched his shoes well. Happy even helped out with his rose pink hair, making it softer and more shiny but still have the usual messy look to it. Natsu walked over looked at himself in front the mirror on top of his dresser. And he had to admit, he didn’t look half bad. “Well I could say the same about too” Natsu said to the blue exeed. Happy’s idea of formal attire was taking off his tie up back pack and wearing a bow tie and a navy blue jacket. They both looked pretty good. True, they wouldn't be as formally dress as the other royals, but all Erza cared about was that they were there and that the pair looked presentable for the ball. Besides, Natsu was most likely to start a fight with someone, so she tried not to have his suit be too nice. “Well, we should get going. We don’t want to be late” Natsu said as he walked out of his room, Happy following him and closing the door behind him. Natsu’s foot steps echoed in the stone hallway, with Happy sitting on on his pink hair. “So, what do you think Lucy is doing right now?” Happy asked, looking kind of sad at the thought of Lucy still stuck at the secret castle. “I don’t know, but that Mard Geer guy better stay away from her. Or else he’ll have to deal with me” Natsu said, looking mad.  _ Well, he’ll have to deal with me anyway, since I have to save Lucy _ , Natsu thought angrily. “Ahhhhhhhhhhh!” Natsu yelled out, armes flaring out as he crashed down face first on the floor. Sitting up, Natsu looked behind him to see a small fish on the ground by his feet. Happy, who had fallen besides the fire dragon’s head. “Sorry, it fell out of my jacket” Happy said with a guilty face. “It's fine” Natsu said standing up and walking the rest of the way there. When they came to the grand doors of the ballroom, they stopped for a few seconds to straighten their clothes out before stepping into the ballroom. The ballroom was huge, with a high dome ceiling that was a cream color with golden edges and held a massive chandelier that sparkled with lacrima and soft candle light. On one wall was a normal plain wall, while the other was made of glass which lead to the royal garden. “Natsu! Happy! There you are, I thought you weren’t coming for a second” Erza said, wearing a red and silver ball gown that hugged her curves while still having a bit of poof to it. She walked over to her son and gave him a small hug. “At first I thought I thought the both of you snuck out on me” the scarlet haired queen whispered loud enough so that only the dragon slayer and talking cat could hear her. “Not tonight Mom. Just didn't make me dance with some girl and we’re ok!” Natsu exclaimed putting his hands on his hips and putting on a smile. “Well, at least talk to someone for me” Erza said as she walked of, gesturing him to follow her. “Who?” Natsu asked, walking past the guest as he followed the queen. “Prince Gray. Remember him? You two were childhood friends” Erza said simply looking back behind her, not noticing the look of pure shock on her son’s face.

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“What do you think Natsu is doing right now?” Lucy asked, lying on a rock with Wendy. They were star gazing at the moonless sky, the one night sky she dreaded the most. They had been talking about just life in general, asking questions and laughing. “Probably at the ball he mentioned yesterday” Wendy replied, facing to the sky. “I know that, I mean what do you think he’s doing at the ball” Lucy said, explaining her previous question she had asked. “Well, he’s probably talking to people he knows, trying the food there, or maybe he’s dancing” Wendy said calmly while rubbing her eyes with her good wing. “With another girl?” Lucy asked quietly, but not quiet enough to where the little blue winged owl couldn't hear the sadness in her voice voice. “Lucy, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I mean, he spent  _ five months _ looking for you. That’s way longer than anyone spent looking for me” Wendy said, looking down at her claws. “Aww, Wendy. You know what? I bet there’s some still looking for you out there. Who knows, maybe they know your alive with every fiber of their being” Lucy said, giving the child a bright smile, hoping it would lift her spirits. “Really? You think so?” Wendy asked, looking hopeful. “Nope. I don't think so,” Lucy said with a straight face, causing Wendy to lose that hopeful look in her brown eyes. “I know so! One hundred percent” the reddish gold phoenix said, putting on her bright smile back on. “Thanks Lucy! You always know what to say!” Wendy exclaimed with a happy smile, hugging the phoenix to show her appreciation. The hug surprised Lucy a bit, she wasn’t expecting a hug. She hadn’t had one in Mavis knows how long, but it felt nice and she soon sweetly hugged the owl back with a soft hug. “Thanks Wendy” Lucy said, gazing at the stars.

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“Shut up ice princess! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!” Natsu yelled as he fought a shirtless Gray, who looked just as angry as Natsu. “Why should I when I know you're wrong pyro! Ice Make Hammer!” Gray yelled back. Gray Fullbuster had black hair and pale skin, along with cold but kind onyx eyes. But what he was best known for was unconsciously taking off his clothes at the most random times. Despite what Erza thought, Natsu and Gray were  _ not _ best friends. They were the exact opposite, enemies since the beginning of time itself. But they did get along from time to time. And by time to time, I mean it was a very rare occurrence for them to truly get along with one and other. “WHy am I always wrong?! What if your wrong this time?!” Natsu said, his fiery fist colliding with the giant ice hammer Gray had formed with his magic. Meanwhile, tables were turned over, shielding the guests of the ball. Happy and Erza had been taking cover for about an hour at the most, playing cards while everyone was hiding, scared for their lives. “That's it. I can't take it any more! All I wanted was a nice night...” Erza mumbled to herself as she walk out onto the battlefield. “If you two don’t stop right now, I’ll have no choice but to end this fight myself!” erza said, using her strict mother voice. At that moment, all the servants knew exactly what was going to happen. “SHUT UP!” both Natsu and Gray yelled, not  _ at all  _ realizing who they were dealing with as they both directed their strongest attacks at the person who interrupted their fight. Just as they were mere inches away from Erza, she easily punched them down onto the ground, creating a crater of polished rubble in the dance floor, Natsu and Gray down for the count. All while having her eyes closed, barley using her strength,  _ and _ not an ounce of magic energy. “Everyone can go home now. And I suggest you do so quick. I hope you enjoyed the ball” Erza said, her eyes still closed with a small smile on her face.


	11. Chapter 11

  
  
  
  
  


When Lucy woke up, her brown eyes fluttered open to see the morning sunrise. The sky was a cascade of lavender purple, hot pink, and a fiery orange which was breathtaking against the white clouds. The way that it all reflected off the surface of the water was even more beautiful. Standing up on her claws, the golden red phoenix took notice of the blue winged owl that was peacefully asleep on the ground. _Poor Wendy. She doesn't deserve what’s happened to her. She’s just a kid, too young to go through all this_, Lucy thought sadly as she looked at Wendy’s sleeping form. As she did, Wendy ever so slowly, began to stir, signalling that she was waking up from her sleep. “Morning Lucy. How did you sleep?” Wendy asked, slowly stretching due to her injury. Lucy's eyes widened to the size of the moon itself. Her owl friend's head was full of feathers that were out of place, sticking up, down, left, right, just _everywhere_ in every direction humanly possibly. “I slept pretty good, but you got a pretty bad case of the bed head!” Lucy laughed, pointing at her friend's head. “Huh?” Wendy said before standing up and walking over to the water to see her monstrous mass of feathers. “What the heck happened to my hair?!” Wendy exclaimed, surprised by the sight of her feathers. “Haha! Feathers. Not hair, feathers. And I don't know, but it’s hilarious! Hahaha!” Lucy laughed, she laughed so hard, she thought that she was starting to tear up. “Lucy, this is no laughing matter! _This _needs help A.S.A.P” Wendy said, pointing at her horrible bed head with a talon. “No offence Wendy, but it's beyond help!” Lucy said giggling. “PLEASE!” Wendy yelled, desperately pleading with the phoenix. “Alright, but keep it down. You don't want to wake up the demon do you?” Lucy asked as she walked over to the owl and sat behind her. “No” Wendy said quietly as she sat down so Lucy could help her dilemma. _No, I definitely don’t want to do that. Who knows what would happen to either of us. Wait, _where is _Mard Geer? He didn't come by last night_, Wendy thought as she began to become worried at her new observation. “Hey Lucy, did you notice that Mard Geer didn’t show up last night?” Wendy asked Lucy. The red gold phoenix slowed down on fixing Wendy's hair and thought about what Wendy said. Her eyes widened as she realized the little blue winged owl was right. For once the raven haired demon didn't show up for his nightly question. “Now that you mention it, he _didn't_” Lucy answered, stopping her ministrations on the feathers, which have been partially tamed with the help if Lucy. “Do you think it has something to do with Natsu coming here? I mean, Mard Geer didn't ask you to marry him the night after Natsu came here” Wendy said, thinking aloud. _I really hope that's not the reason_, Wendy thought. Lucy started to work on the owls hair again, wetting one of her claws in the pond and brushing down the jungle of bed head. “No, I don’t think so. Demons don't have heightened senses. At least, not nearly as well as a dragon slayer” Lucy explained assuring Wendy and herself that this was just a random coincidence. But she couldn't shake off that bad feeling she had. Why didn’t the Underworld King come by like he had every night for five months? Did he have some new twisted plan? If he did, what was it? “Lucy!” Wendy exclaimed, gaining Lucy's attention and tearing her away from her thoughts. The owl had tried to get Lucy's attention at least five seven times now. “Huh? What?” Lucy said, kind of surprises a little bit. “Your claw is stuck in my feathers and it hurts!” the blue winged owl exclaimed.

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“So let me get this straight. You two were fighting over who was a better and stronger mage?!” Erza exclaimed, hands on hips while Natsu and Gray were sitting criss cross next to each other with their hands on there ankles. 

“Sound about right”

“Yeah”

“Could be changed just a little…”

“What am I going to do with you two” Erza said rubbing the bridge of her nose. True, they used to fight as children, when Gray’s mother Ur, before she died, and brother Lyon came to her castle for meets and relaxation time. But she never thought they would fight like this. Especially at a ball. The scarlet haired queen took in a deep breath before speaking again. “I'm sorry Prince Gray, but you’ll have to stay here for a about week due to the great distance between our two kingdoms” Erza said. “No offence, but can't I just borrow a ship and got to my kingdom” Gray said standing up. “Geez, put some clothes on stripper” Natsu said causing Gray to look down and find that his shirt and pants had gone missing. “Oh come on!” Gray exclaimed as he began to look around for his missing clothes. “I'm sorry, but I can't do that. All of the royal ships have already set sail and won't be back for a while, and the only ones left are the armada” Erza explained as Gray picked up his clothes off the ground. “It's alright. I understand” Gray said with a calm straight face. Erza let herself smile a bit. “Good. Now get dressed please” Erza said before walking away so she could go take care of the “small” mess in the grand ballroom. When Erza left, Gray started to quickly get dressed, not want wanting any of the castle staff to see him like this. “Hey Natsu, where you going?” Gray asked when he saw Natsu leaving the room they were in. “I'm going to my room? What's it look like?” Natsu answered as he continued his way down the stone hallway that would lead to his room. When he opened his door, Natsu saw that Happy had the bags all packed for the trip. “You got everything Happy?” Natsu asked the blue exeed. “Yeah. Mira came by about two hours ago and dropped this off. Said it was for Lucy” Happy said handing Natsu a box. On it was an envelope, which he openes to find a note.

_ Hey Natsu! Happy told me about your trip to see Lucy. So I made her a small gift in my spare time, I think you’ll know what's it’s for! Wish you luck. _

_ -Mirajane _

Natsu put the note back into the envelope and opened the box. Inside was a brown leather belt with a pouch to hold her celestial keys. It was perfect for her, he knew she would love it. “What is it?” Happy asked as he packed a fish into his bag. “A belt” Natsu said as he took the belt out of the box and carefully took out Lucy’s celestial keys and put them in the pouch on Lucy’s new belt. “Well put it in the bag, we gotta go” Happy said as he latched himself onto Natsu's back and his wings appeared. Natsu pit the gift into his bag and Happy flew them out the window and into the sky.


	12. Chapter 12

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Are they here yet?” Lucy asked for the hundredth time that day as she soared through the air. Wendy groaned in annoyance, while sitting up in her tree branch. Her feathers had now been tamed, and were neatly against her head thanks to the phoenix's help. Ever since Lucy remembered that Natsu and Happy were coming back tonight, she had been constantly excited. Granted it was good to see Lucy so happy, but Wendy didn't know how much more of this she could take. “For the  _ last time _ Lucy, I don't know” Wendy said, rubbing the bridge of her beak with her claws. “I'm sorry for asking so much. I'm just so happy!” Lucy said as she started to do summer salts. The sky had become a late fiery sunset, so the pink haired fire dragon slayer and blue exeed would either be here a bit early or just after moonrise. “That's good, but what if Mard Geer doesn't ask you again? Should we be worried then?” Wendy asked Lucy, who was now flying in place in front of Wendy. Lucy flew and landed on the branch the little owl was perched on. “That’s a good question. It does make me nervous. I may not know him all, but this doesn't seem like him one bit” Lucy said.  _ What is he doing? Is this part of some plan? Has he given up? _ , Lucy thought. But soon her last question was dismissed from her head.  _ No, he wouldn’t do that. He asked you that horrid question for five months, there's no way he would give up that easily. Right? _ , Lucy pondered inside her head. “Should we look into it?” Wendy asked the golden red fire phoenix. “I think so, but let's decide tomorrow” Lucy said. “Well let’s at least tell Natsu and Happy. Who knows, they could be a big help” Wendy pointed out, hoping Lucy would agree. “Ok, it's all settled then” Lucy said as she stood up on her legs and jumping off of the branch, continuing her flight. It wasn’t long until the moon was high enough in the sky that Lucy stopped and glided down to the pond. With the soft moonlight shining on her, Lucy began to transform back into a human. “Ahhhhhhh. That’s better!” Lucy exclaimed, stretching her now human limbs while also keeping an eye out for Mard Geer. Before she and Natsu had their reunion, she would have been glad that the raven haired demon hadn’t bothered her. But now, it made her nervous and uneasy. Was it just a coincidence that this happened just after Natsu and Happy got here? What if she was wrong and Mard Geer did somehow know that the two were there? Well, if he did, he didn’t show it. Lucy walked out if the pond, looking at the sky. “Hey Wendy-” the blond haired women started, but was cut off by by the blue winged owl. “Lucy, I don't know when they'll be here” Wendy said, trying to keep the venom out of her voice. Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy had been flying for a while, taking only a few braking along their journey so the blue exeed could snack and fuel up on fish so they could continue the long flight. The two friends had just got to the castle when Natsu had noticed. “Hey Happy! Look, I found it!” Natsu exclaimed as the wind whipped past her ears. “Where?! I can't see a thing with your girly pink hair in my face!” Happy yelled. “What'd you say about my hair?!” Natsu yelled at the blue exeed. “Oh! I see it! And there's Lucy!” Happy exclaimed as he saw Lucy walk out of the pond. And at that moment, the mischievous flying cat got an idea that made him stop just above the blond women. “Hey Natsu. Would you say that you’ve  _ fallen  _ for Lucy?” Happy asked, hoping that his pink haired friend wouldn't catch on to his joke. “Uhhhh, yeah. Why?” Natsu said before his face paled, and his onyx eyes widened in fear and realization. “Oh no Happy! Not again, I didn't even do any-ahhhhhhhhh!” Natsu pleaded with Happy before the devilish exeed dropped his best friend. And down, down, down he went until the fire dragon would land, well more like crash, on top of his waiting princess. Meanwhile, Wendy was trying to get through to Lucy at this time. “Besides, it's not like he'll just fall out if the sky!” Wendy said, throwing out her wings off her sides. At that moment, the said man crashed on top of the celestial mage, the two lovers groaning in pain on the ground. “Natsu, what the heck happened?!” Lucy croaked out. “I don't know, ask Happy” Natsu said as he was pushed off of the brown eyed women herself. “Hi Lucy! Sorry that we're kinda late” Happy said as he softly glided down. “Dumb cat! What kind of friend just drops his best friend from the air?!” Lucy yelled at Happy as she sat up on her knees. “Me of course” Happy replied simply, landing on the ground while his wings disappeared. Lucy couldn't help but facepalm her forehead at the blue cats answer. Natsu, finally shaking away the dizzy spell Happy put him under went up and hugged Lucy tightly. “Nice to see ya again Luce” Natsu said with a gentle smile. “You too” Lucy answered while ruffling his soft pink hair. “Oh, Mira got you something” Natsu said as he pulled away from the hug and began to rummage through his backpack. Memories of the white haired seamstress flooded through Lucy's mind faster that a tsunami. “Mira? As in Mirajane Strauss?” Lucy asked with admiration in her voice. “Yup” Natsu said, only paying half attention while still digging through his bag. “Oh my gosh, I loved her as a child. I remember how she'd alway fix my dress after me and you duked it out!” Lucy said with a bright smile. “Mmmhhhmmm” Natsu said, still paying half attention. “She was so nice and even gave me a few makeovers and taught me how to properly fight!” Lucy exclaimed as memories kept popping up in her mind. “Here we are!” Natsu said as he took out the belt Mirajane made for Lucy. “Look in the pocket” the fire dragon said as he handed it to Lucy. Turning it over so that the pouch was facing her, Lucy opened the leather flap and gapsed. “It's  _ them _ ” Lucy whispered as she gazed down at her gold and silver celestial spirit keys. “Thank you Natsu!” Lucy cried as she wrapped Natsu in a death hug. “Luce! C-can't br-breath!” Natsu horsley gasped out. “Oh, sorry” Lucy said as she released the pink haired dragon slayer from her hold. “Now that we greeted each other, me and Wendy have something to tell you” the celestial mage said, walking over to Wendy and helping her down from her branch. The little owl perched herself on the blond woman's forearm. “It's about Mard Geer” Wendy said, sounding cautious as if she feared the demon himself was listening.


	13. Chapter 13

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“So what you're saying is you want me to finally fight him!” Natsu said with crazed eyes and insane smile, as he lit up his fists and started to pop his knuckles. “NO! That’s not what I’m saying at all! How did you even get that from what I just told you?”Lucy exclaimed. The blond haired celestial mage and little white blue winged owl had just gotten done with explaining to Natsu and Happy what they had been worried about. The two girls thought the fire dragon slayer and blue exeed would at least act more serious about it, but apparently not. “Besides, I don’t think you can just fight him Natsu, you haven’t felt the amount of magical power he gives off. It practically radiates off him” Lucy said, wearing a extremely worried expression on her face. Happy flew up to Lucy and hugged her around her torso, hoping to make her feel better. “Don't worry Lucy, I bet Natsu can still knock his socks off any day!” Happy said with a fierce look on his face. “Haha, I hope so” Lucy said with a small smile, laughing at Happy’s happy attitude towards the situation. “Hey! What do you mean you  _ hope so _ ! Don’t you mean you  _ know so _ ?!” Natsu exclaimed as his lover's words rang through his head. “Mmmmmmm, no. It’s hope. Hahaha!” Lucy told the pink haired man, laughing at the hurt expression on his face. As Wendy and Happy saw this, the two soon joined Lucy in her laughter. Natsu growled a little at this, crossing his arms across his chest. To the fire dragon, this was not funny. As Lucy glanced up to look at Natsu, she wiped away a small tear that was building up in her brown doe eye. “Oh Natsu. I was only kidding” Lucy said as she placed a delicate hand on his broad shoulder, still giggling a bit. “Good. Cause your wearing white, and there’s a pond right behind us” Natsu smirked at Lucy while pointing his thumb pointing at the clear moonlit pond. Lucy blushed a light shade of red while her eyes widened, clearly embarrassed by the pink haired man’s words. “You baka! There’s a  ** _child_ ** here!” Lucy yelled at Natsu, hitting him on the head and leaving a small bump right at the top. “Yeah Natsu!” Happy joined in. “Oh, not you too!” Natsu said, not wanting to belief that his friend was going against him on this.  _ I was only kidding! I mean sure, it’s a great idea and I would love to do it. Just in an another time _ , Natsu thought as he rubbed the bump on his head, quickly making it shrink back into his head. “Anywho, pretending that your comment never happened, I’m just worried that you won’t be able to defeat Mard Geer on your own. Like I said, you can feel the magical energy radiate off him” Lucy said, looking Natsu right in the eye. “So, what you're saying, is that he’ll need back up!” Wendy exclaimed, her eyes sparkling for an unknown reason. “Yeah, exactly! Natsu,” Lucy said, turning to her pink haired lover, who turned his own head at the mention of his name. “Do you know anyone who could help us fight in your kingdom. I think that there was your Mom, that one guard named Sting, umm-” Lucy said, listing names from her memory before the fire dragon slayer covered Lucy’s mouth, stopping her in her tracks. “No, not Sting! He ,uh, won’t be strong enough!” Natsu quickly said, eliminating the high ranked guard from the list, as memories of Sting hitting on Lucy flooded his mind. “Oh, ok then. I know, what about Gray!” Lucy pointed out. “Mmmmmmm, yeah I guess” Natsu replied. Happy flew over while carefully carrying Wendy on his back, both wanting to be part of the two lovers conversation. “Plus I heard he got a crazy crazy amount of power, I think he’s a Ice Demon Slayer now. So that would be perfect for this mission!” the blue exeed said, adding the new found information. “Great, now we know who should help, but how do we ask? I have a feeling that if Natsu explained all this to his Mother, he’d look crazy” Wendy added in. “Hmmm. What if  _ I _ asked for help in person!” Lucy said, her eyes widening, and a smile spreading across her face. Wendy’s mind caught up with what her friend was saying, and a fierce look took over face. “Then they would have no choice but to believe you! And we could finally take down Mard Geer once and for all!” the little white owl exclaimed. “Yeah! But how are we going to do that?” Lucy asked. “I know! I'll ask Mom if we can have another another ball tomorrow night!” Natsu suggested. “But we just had one Natsu” Happy said, his sounding like he was explaining a simple fact to an idiot. “One word. Cake” Natsu said. Happy’s face looked like it was in deep thought for a moment before saying, “I guess you have a point there” with a small smile. “It's all planned then!” Wendy exclaimed. Lucy hugged Natsu, overjoyed that she was finally able to create a plan to take down her enemy. However, the moment was ruined by the blinding sunlight that shined in her eyes suddenly, causing her to gasp. “I’m sorry Natsu. I thought we had more time” Lucy said as she broke apart from Natsu. “What do yo-” Natsu started to say, but cut his sentence short when he saw the sunlight in Lucy’s brown doe eyes. “Don’t worry about the ball, I’ll be there! Just get home safely, ok?” Lucy said as light started to engulfed her, soon shrinking smaller and smaller until it was only a bit bigger than Wendy herself. The leather belt that held her celestial spirit keys that she had held onto for the whole night, dropped to the ground. Natsu and Happy watched with wide eyes as the bright light vanished to reveal Lucy, but as the fire phoenix that lead them there to the abandoned castle in the first place. As Lucy stood up on her clawed legs, Natsu kneeled down in front of her. “Don’t worry Luce, we’ll change ya back” Natsu said, a kind smile on his lips. “Come on Natsu, we gotta go” Happy said as he latched himself to Natsu’s back and slowly flew off. As Lucy watch Happy lift Natsu into the sky, the two lovers never broke eye contact until they were far far away from each other. And not one of them noticed the object in the shadows that smirked as he finally formed the perfect plan.


	14. Chapter 14

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Mard Geer entered the abandoned castle, glad that his plan was all coming together perfectly. His plan to spy on the princess had paid off. What he had wished he’d known about was that prince, and how on earth he had missed his presence the other nights. Oh well, there was no use in worrying about now.  _ It is quite fascinating that they think they can defeat me. Though that demon slayer the exeed spoke of could prove to be a nuisance in my favor _ , Mard Geer thought as he paced around in the entrance hall. “Mmmm. Well, no matter. My curses will be no match for either of those humans” the raven haired demon said to himself, as he wore a calm yet evil and proud smile on his face. “Tomorrow nights battle is sure to go down in history as the night the demons took their first steps towards world domination and the humans obliteration” Mard Geer said to himself as the morning sunlight started to stream in through the cracked stone and broken windows.

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Happy had finally reached Natsu’s window, tired and almost completely drained of magical energy. And carrying the pink haired dragon slayer did not help the situation. When Happy was inside Natsu’s room, the blue exeed dropped the said dragon slayer on his bed and laid down down right on top of him. “Where did you boy’s run off to at such a late hour?” a voice asked, fury dripping from it. Natsu and Happy shot up to find Erza sitting in a chair, half of herself hidden in the shadows and the other in the golden sunlight. Her face was showing a mother’s wrath, her eyes glaring at her son and the blue exeed as fear to hold in their eyes. “Hi Mom! You see, it’s been kinda a long story,” Natsu said as he nervously scratched the back of his neck. “Let me guess, you and Happy went out and trained again? Happy, leave” Erza told the blue cat, who walked out of the room and closed the door quietly with a sad look on his face. Natsu sat up straight on the edge of his bed, making sure to face her. Erza sighed and put on a more calm face, which surprised the pink haired man. “Natsu, for the past five months you’ve been sneaking off to Mavis knows where, or rarely the library. And the only reasons I have are training or because Jellal told you that you had to! On top of that, you seem to be a bit anti social.As a mother this has me worried. And whenever I try to bring you out and be more social, you just sneak off again. Sure I try’d to get you to get hitched again, but that's not the point right now. Do you see why I’m so strict about this rule now?” Erza explained to her son, making sure that her son got her point of view. Natsu nodded his head and looked down, feeling guilty. “I’m sorry, I didn't know how you felt about all that” he said. “Oh, it's alright. And I hope you don’t run off again” Erza said as she pulled him into a tight hug, squeezing all the air out of his lungs. “C-can't… breath!” the fire dragon gasped out, his face looking pale. “I know” the scarlet haired queen stated, hugging her son a bit tighter. “And I've decided that this is only the first part of your punishment” Erza said as she release her son from her death grip. Natsu took deep breaths, wanting as much oxygen as he could get at the moment. “Now get back into your suit. I’ve arranged a small get together with some nearby friends and I want you to be there the whole time” Erza said as she walked towards the door. Natsu couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he didn't even have to ask. Sure it wasn’t a ball, but it was close. “Hey Mom, can it be in the ballroom?” Natsu asked as Erza placed her hands on his doors doorknob. Erza turned her head to look at her son, her eyes softening. “Yes, that would be a lovely idea” the scarlet haired queen said, opening the door and walking through. She didn't close it so the blue exeed could walk in. Happy closed the door after flying into Natsu's room. “Wow, we didn't even have to ask!” Happy exclaimed. “I know, I'm just as surprised as you. At least that's taken care of. I feel like we got lucky though” Natsu said, falling backwards onto his bed. He could feel his eyes starting to close, sleep wanting to take hold of him. And he didn't care one bit right now. “Tired?” Happy asked his pink haired friend, flying over to him and laying on a pillow next to him. Happy laid on the soft pillow, curling into a little ball of blue, his long tail curling around the majority of his body. “Mmhmm” Natsu replied thoughtlessly, practically asleep. Happy closed his eyes, falling asleep.

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“Oh! Wendy, I can’t make this dress any more presentable! And I'll be practically coming back from the dead, and I can't even look nicer!” Lucy complained as she held the fabric of her dress in her hands, which were tightened into fist at this moment. The sun had set and the moon had risen early, which was strange to the celestial spirit mage and the blue winged owl. The once fiery orange sunset was fading into a starry dark blue night. For the last hour, Lucy had been trying to readjust her dress. Since she didn't have any needle and thread, it proved to be a near impossible task. “Then summon one of your celestial spirits” Wendy said as she watched the blond haired women. “I can't. Mard Geer might sense the magical energy in a heartbeat, and then the plan would just be ruined all together. I can't risk that, no matter what” Lucy told the little white owl. “Well said” Wendy told Lucy as she walked over to the pond and took a sip. “Lucy, shouldn't we have left by now?” the blue winged owl asked. “I guess, since we don't know how far away the castle is” Lucy said as she carefully picked up Wendy and placed her on her shoulder. “Now I wouldn't leave just yet” a dark voice said from behind them. Lucy whipped her head around, eyes wide and full of fear with her mouth agap, to see Mard Geer standing a little ways behind her. “Why so surprised to see me? Surely you would have guessed this to happen eventually” Mard Geer said as he took a few steps towards the pair. “Fine, you caught us. What do you want now?” Lucy asked with venom dripping from her voice. “Not much. Just for you to go to the ball that you're impotent prince has set up tonight” the raven haired demon said, a small smirk on his face. Lucy stood up straight and glared right at Mard Geer. “Anything you want can't be good, so I won't go no matter what you do to me” Lucy told him. “The situation can go down two ways, either participate on your own will, or be forced to do as I ask” Mard Geer said. Lucy threw a deadly glare to the point where it was starting to scare Wendy. If looks could kill, there wouldn't even be anything left of the underworld king to bury. “Go to hell” Lucy spat at Mard Geer.  _ I’ve already been there _ , Mard Geer thought as he sighed. “Humans are so obstinate,  _ especially the women _ ” Mard Geer mumbled to himself as his hands started doing strange movements. Wendy's eyes widened in fear as realization set in her mind. “Lucy run!” the white owl yelled, knowing what the demon was doing. But as the blond haired celestial mage turned to run, everything turned black and she could feel herself falling to the ground.


	15. Chapter 15

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Natsu… Natsu… NATSU!” Happy yelled in the pink haired man ear, trying to wake up the sleeping dragon slayer. Natsu shot up, sitting straight up at the sudden noise. “What! Is the castle under attack?! Where are they!” Natsu said quickly, looking around with alert eyes. “No, it's much worse! We overslept and now we only have fifteen minutes to get ready for that ball!” Happy said in a worried voice, though Natsu couldn't see way he was. It was just a normal ball, right? “So? We can just arrive late like always” Natsu said as he flopped back down in his bed. “Natsu, your Mom will get mad!” Happy said, trying to get his friend up. “What's new? Plus she won't be that mad, she loves us” the pink haired dragon slayer told his exeed friend. “What about  _ Lucy _ ! Since you loooooove her and all” Happy said with a smug face. “Shut up” Natsu growled, sending a death glare towards the blue exeed. Happy ignored it, determined to get his pink haired friend out of bed. “Imagine when she walks through the doors, and you're not there.  _ Imagine all the other men that will ask her to dance _ ” Happy said, knowing he had hit a nerve inside Natsu. “WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT! Come on Happy! We gotta get dressed!” Natsu said, rushing towards his closet while dragging his blue exeed friend in his arm.  _ At least it worked! But now I feel bad for the guests that are coming _ , Happy thought as he was practically forced into his suite that Queen Erza had told Mira make for him.

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Erza was talking to one of the guests she had invited. The ballroom looked marvelous, even the floor looked amazing. You couldn't even tell that the powerful scarlet haired queen pretty much beat the living crap out out of two princes. Sure, it took _a lot_ of magic enchantments, but it looked nice. It even looked better in her opinion. Erza headed over to the dessert table, she'd been absolutely dying to eat even a bite of the strawberry cake for Mavis knows how long. It was practically calling her name. The queen sliced herself a fairly big piece of cake and plopped it right on her plate, salivating just over the smell. Erza licked her lips as she heard the ballroom doors open. Looking over as she took a bite out of her cake, the scarlet haired queen almost choked on her food when she saw her son and the blue exeed. She whipped her head over to a grand clock on the wall, checking to see what time it was. _They came here _on time_. Mavis must have blessed me this one night_, Erza thought as she felt a pat on the back. “Hey Mom! Isn't that a big slice for a single person” Natsu said when he saw his mother's plate. She turned her head to see Natsu in his new suite. He wore a black shirt with a dark gray fancy vest over it. Like his shirt, his pants were black and he had dark brown knee high boots. But what caught her attention the most was his trench coat. It was blood red with golden orange accents to the bottom and sleeves with golden buttons. _He's all grown up_, Etza thought tearing up a little. “Mom are you ok?” Natsu asked a little worried about his mother. He didn't accidently offend her with his comment did he?! “Oh crap Mom! I didn't mean it in a bad way! I just me-” Natsu started to say but was cut of by his mother pulling him into a death hug. “Can't you just stay a child forever instead of getting older damnit!” Erza exclaimed as a dramatic tear escaped, gaining a few nervous glances. Natsu blushed as he tried to free himself from his mother's grip. “Moooom, let go!” Natsu told his mother. “Fine, but just because people are starting to stare” Erza said. _They're _already _staring_, Happy thought as he carefully took the forgotten plate of cake from the queen's hands. Erza let go of her son and wiped away her teared up eyes. “Now, go have fun. Talk to Gray, he's still here you know” Erza said with a smile. “Ice princess is still here?” Natsu mumbled angrily. “Shut up and go socialize,” Erza scolded at her son and snatched the plate out of Happy’s paws. The blue cat's face went from content to heart broken in a heartbeat. “I'll be taking that. Thank you very much Happy” Erza said before she walked off. Just because she was being emotional, doesn't mean she won't realize her cake was stolen. “So flame brain, why'd you come down this early? Aren't you suppose to be late?” a familiar voice said from behind Natsu and Happy making the pink haired fire dragon slayer groan. “Shut the heck up Gray, I can be on time too you know!” Natsu yelled at the raven haired ice mage, as he turned around to glare at his pale face. “Apparently, or else you would be here an hour late” Gray said, ticking the pink haired man off more. “Though knowing you, it's a more serious reason, plus I heard you asked if it all this could be in the ballroom. So what's your reasoning?” Gray asked Natsu. “That's my business and mine alone” Natsu told Gray, walking over to the dessert table for a slice of that strawberry cake his Mom loves so much. And he could tell why, with his heightened senses and all. The cake smelled _amazing_, and he couldn't resist it anymore. “Is it a girl?” Gray asked with a playful smirk on his face, his teasing question confirmed by the light pink that covered the fire dragons cheeks and his reaction. “Shut up ice princess, those are fightin words!” Natsu quietly scowled at the raven haired man. Happy watched the two men glare at each other. The friendship of the fire mage and the ice mage confused him more than anything else. True, they could act like decent friends at rare times, but most of the time they didn't really hate each other, they both were just competitive against the other. Really, really, _really_ competitive. But they were still friends, kind of. _They are, deep, deep, deep, _deeeeeep _down inside_, Happy thought. “Oh yeah, how then?” Gray said as he took a glass of wine from one of the terrified servants that were walking around. To see the two arguing wasn't uncommon, but it was what it lead to the scared everyone. In fact, the very reason the kingdom's construction workers were so well paid was because of the magic duels that have been challenge by the two. And since they were both evenly powerful, Natsu and Gray had no choice but to continue to fight. Well, that's how they saw it in their eyes. “Cause it just is at the moment” Natsu said as he shoved a third of his cake down his throat. “Wow, this must be some girl” Gray said as he downed his drink. Natsu smiled as he set down his plate, not noticing the smug look that Happy had on his face. “Can't argue with you there pal” the fire dragon said. “_Because he_ _llllllooooooooves her_” Happy said to the ice prince next to him using his white angelic wings. “Why you little,” Natsu said quietly causing the blue exeed to hide behind Gray's shoulder, but was cut off by the grand ballroom doors opening unexpectedly, catching everybody's attention. And the figure that stood in the doorway made their jaws drop.


	16. Chapter 16

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The whole ballroom just stood there and stared dumbfounded at the person standing there in the doorway. No one dared to even make a sound, almost as if the guests had simply lost their voices. It was so quiet, the ticking of a grand clock could be heard throughout the large ballroom. They couldn't believe what they were seeing, it just seemed impossible. Everybody had thought they'd never see them again, that they had died out there in wilderness. The whole world had eventually labeled them dead, but apparently not. Queen Erza stared in bewilderment, wondering how in the the world could this person possibly be here at this time? _This can't be real, I'm dreaming. I must be, what other explanation is there?_, the scarlet haired queen thought in her head, not believing what her eyes were seeing. Gray could only stare with absolutely nothing in his head. No thought, no emotions, just nothing. It was as if his mind shut down from the sudden shock, and who really could blame him. After all, that's what was happening to almost everybody at the moment. Natsu and Happy couldn’t take their eyes off of the person standing at the doorway, the two friends had and idea of what to expect but this was was a little bit unexpected. “Hello. I’m sorry I’m late, but it took a while to get here. I hope you all can understand” Lucy said as she stood there in the doorway. Natsu couldn’t take his eyes off her, she was just breathtaking. Her blond hair was tied up into a neat bun with her bangs framing the sides of her face, an elegant headband acting as a crown. Her dress consisted of light pink for the skirt, and hot pink for the top and over skirt. There was white frilling on the hem of the over skirt, the cut of the top, and a trail going up the middle of the top where it met the cut, a rose was placed where the two points met. The sleeves were separate from the dress, the white frilling at the top cut just below the shoulder. Once the hot pink reached her elbows, it seemed to hang off her arms. And the light pink skirt was poofed out a little, with a white bow at the waistline. It was the same ball gown Lucy wore when he first proposed. The blond haired woman walked across the ballroom over to her lover, who was nervous at just the sight of her. “Would you like to dance?” Lucy calmly asked Natsu as she held out her hand. “Sure” the pink haired dragon slayer said, trying not to show how timid he was at the moment. Natsu took his lovers hand in his own as soft piano music started to play, and he pulled Lucy out into the ballroom floor. As the couple continued dancing, Natsu began to feel more comfortable and one by one the guests started to talk again, only about the supposedly dead Princess Lucy. “So Luce, how did you get here” Natsu asked as he and Lucy danced to a new song. Since the moon had only risen a bit ago, he had to wonder how she had gotten here so quickly. “Well I flew here with Wendy carrying me” the blond haired celestial wizard said with sarcasm dripping from her voice. “Wow! Wendy’s that strong?! She seemed kinda weak right now with her wing in a cast and all,” Natsu said with a surprised look in his eyes. “No! I walked here on foot, how else?” Lucy told Natsu as she was twirled, her dress flaring out around her. “Well, I'm glad you at least made it here safely Luce” Natsu said as he pulled Lucy back towards him. “Me too” Lucy said as she looked into Natsu's onyx eyes. As he looked into her brown doe eyes, the fire dragon noticed that something was off about them. He didn't know what it was but they seemed hazy and distant. Almost like a figure in a fog. And on top of that her scent was different in a way. It was still the same, but with a hint of something almost magical added to it. Like a spell or something. “Hey Lucy, are you alright?” Natsu asked. The blond woman's calm and happy expression didn't falter even a bit. “Of course silly. Why wouldn't I be?” Lucy told tighter as squeezing his hand a tiny bit tighter. Natsu let out a sigh, as the current song they were dancing to ended. “Alright if you say so” Natsu said which caused Lucy to smile brighter. Maybe he was just nervous about Mard Geer, Lucy appeared to be fine. A bit calmer than usual, but fine. Nothing seemed to be wrong with her but he’d keep his eye on her just in case. Meanwhile, Mard Geer was walking inside one of the castle's many hallways. He was a demon on a mission, if his plan was going to work, he had to collect a few things that had been stolen from him many years ago. “Hey! Who are you and what are you doing here?!” a guard asked as he came from a corner behind the underworld king. Mard Geer clicked his tongue as he turned around with a board expression on his face. Once he saw the human, his eyes showed nothing but disgust. “For once I hoped I wouldn't have to shed any blood on this matter. But I can't afford to have a pathetic human know I’m here only so he can attempt to warn his comrades” the raven haired demon said as he swiped his hand into a tilted upward position. Suddenly a thick vines covered in razor sharp thorns came out from the ground and wrapped itself around them guard's throat and wrists. “But since I’m here and I simply can not have any witnesses, I might as well have fun with this” Mard Geer said as he clenched his hand into a fist, which made the vines tighten their grip on the guards wrists and throat. The royal guard gasped for air and gripped the vines as he felt the air and blood escaping him. Mard Geer couldn't help but smile. Meanwhile, Natsu was still dancing with Lucy in the grand ballroom. As much as the pink haired man was enjoying this, he was wondering when the two were going to start forming a plan of attack. He _really_ wanted to kick Mard Geer’s butt so this could all be over. Something bad was going to happen, he could feel it in his stomach. _Then again that could also just mean that I’m hungry_, Natsu thought as he stopped dancing. “Hey Lucy, I was just wondering. When are we going to ask for help in defeating that demon? Don't you think that we should start forming a plan before it's too late?” Natsu asked Lucy, whose expression didn’t falter. But he could of swore that he saw something flash in her eyes. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew it something. But what? “Natsu, I’ve been labeled as dead for five months, and trapped at an abandoned castle. And you’ve been training and worrying that whole time, I don't think a small brake would hurt us. Now, let's eat” Lucy said as she took his hand in hers and lead him over to the desserts table. Natsu’s eyes widened, as he walked with Lucy. Know he knew for a fact that something was up. The Lucy he knew would have agreed and walked straight to Erza dragging him along with her and got down to business. That feeling in his stomach grew, and he could tell it wasn’t his hunger. It felt like tornado was rampaging through it, tearing him apart. When he reached the dessert table he shot Happy a look that meant “ we need to talk _now_” Happy nodded and flew over to his friend, floating by him. “What is it Natsu?” Happy whispered, sounding alert yet nervous. “Somethings up with Lucy, it's like that no really her or something” Natsu whispered back, being careful so that the blond haired women couldn’t hear as she ate whatever she had put on her plate. “What do you mean?” the blue exeed asked as he eyed her carefully. “She’s acting different. My nose says it is her, but I’m not sure, she seems to calm, distant, like she’s under a spell” Natsu explained to his best friend. Happy nodded his head in agreement. As dense as Natsu was at times, he had a point. Lucy did seem too calm, calm just wasn’t her style. Plus he knew just how much Lucy wanted to defeat the underworld king, she wouldn't be wasting time like this. “What are you two talking about?” Lucy asked suddenly from behind the two friends. Natsu and Happy jumped at the voice of Lucy, not expecting it. “Nothing! Nothing at all!” Natsu and Happy said at the same, trying to convince the celestial wizard. Lucy shrugged her shoulders as he turned around. The fire dragon and blue exeed sighed, happy that she didn’t ask any further questions. All of a sudden the candles were blown out, leaving the room to be lit up by the soft moon light through the glass. And all eyes turned their attention towards the ballroom doors that flew open, revealing a tall dark figure that made the whole room gasp out in surprise. “I’m truely sorry I’m late, but I ran into someone while I was on my way to pick up my belongings” he said as he held a book that contained the unimaginable curses of demons. “And furthermore, you’ll want to make sure that there's an opening for a royal guard” Mard Geer said sinisterly as he smiled.


	17. Chapter 17

  
  


Everybody stared at Mard Geer in the moonlit ballroom, fear plain in their eyes. First Princess Lucy and now The Underworld King Mard Geer? Nobody quite knew what to make of these events. The only ones who weren't scared were Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Lucy. The queen and two princes had eyes full of anger. But Lucy just had a plain face on, as if it was a normal occurrence.  _ Now I know something fishy is going on _ , Natsu thought as he glared daggers at the raven haired demon. As of now, it was taking everything he had to keep his flames from burning this whole room to ashes. Erza also glared, but with more fury added into her gaze.  _ This man... this demon  _ killed  _ Jellal my best friend. He kidnapped Lucy, the child that I viewed as my own. This man ruined the life I knew five months ago _ , the scarlet haired queen thought as she clenched her hands into fists, almost drawing her own blood. Not that she was focused or noticing the pain at the moment. “Mard Geer! What are you doing here!” Erza shouted at the underworld king, her voice filled with venom. “I simply came here to enjoy the ball you have thrown. Oh, and to take care of of some business I have here” Mard Geer answered, a sly look on his face. It was the kind of look that would send shivers down your spine before you even saw him, and his eyes only spoke of his evil intentions. And his words only scared the guests furthermore. “You have no business here, leave before I personally remove you myself.  _ And trust me. You don't want that _ ” Erza said as she glared at Mard Geer, sending him a warning that he either ignored, or didn't catch. The underworld king and the scarlet queen glared at eachother, as if they could obliterate the other person. Mard Geer smirked, making Queen Erza glared harder. “If you wish, but I still have that business I have to take care of?” he said as he opened his book of curses, flipping a few pages. Natsu glanced back at Lucy before he allowed his fists to be consumed by fire, illuminating the dark ballroom a little bit. “Oh yeah? What kind of business?” the fire dragon slayer asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer. Mard Geer closed his precious book with a loud clap with one hand while his other hand pointed at Lucy. “Why she is” Mard Geer said as a glowing magic circle surrounded the blonde celestial wizard. “Lucy!” Natsu shouted, but the princess wouldn't move. She didn't even bat an eyelash, she just stood there with a straight face and those brown, foggy, distant eyes. Mard Geer watched the scene, smirking even more. “You see, before she left, I placed a mind control curse on her while dressing her up a bit. Her harrowing little owl friend tried to warn her, but to no avail. She was too late and ended up in a cage, out of my way. And the business I’m referring to is the  _ death _ of your lover” Mard Geer explained as Natsu growled at him. “You see, I never intended to actually keep her alive after I took her kingdom. Her justification was to help me inherit her kingdom and then die. Nothing more. Then I thought to myself, if I simply  _ killed  _ the only heir to the throne, then I could simply take it for myself without any trouble. Since no one would be able to stop me” Mard Geer explained, further angering the fire dragon. “And now seems like the perfect time to do so. Since this is the night that will be known as the night the demons from hell were let loose into to the world yet once again” Mard Geer said as the glowing magic circle around Lucy glowed a demonic dark purple, and the blond haired women gasped. Natsu growled, looking from Lucy to glaring at the underworld king. “You bastard! If you want to hurt anyone, hurt me!” Natsu shouted, hoping to save Lucy. Mard Geer’s smirk faded at the dragon slayers words. “You would really give up your life for this women? Would it really be worth it?” Mard Geer asked, staring right into Natsu's eyes. “Yeah! With no regrets! I love her, I’d go to hell and back for her! And there is now way I’m just gonna let her die on my watch!” Natsu exclaimed, meaning every word he said. He stared right into Mard Geer’s dark eyes, waiting for his reply. Mard Geer smirked, surprising and worrying the pink haired man. “Then that will make this more gratifying” Mard Geer said softly, only Natsu being able to hear him because of his heightened senses. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, as Natsu heard his heat thundering in his chest. Mard Geer snapped his fingers, the sound echoing throughout the dead silent room. Instantly the magic circle around Lucy disappeared, and for only one second, it seemed fine. Until the celestial wizard glowed a brilliant white, screaming louder as it grew brighter. Then suddenly, the white light stopped and disappeared into Lucy, her screams dying with it. All she felt was pain, and she felt as if something was eating away at her life force. Her whole world went black, and she couldn't stand. The princess started to fall backwards as her eyes closed, signaling that she was unconscious. Natsu rushed over to Lucy, catching her body before she could even fall halfway to the ballroom floor. The fire dragon slayer picked Lucy up bridal style while glaring at the demon with an unknown rage no one knew he had. His flames have disappeared, but everyone could tell he was holding back a enough fire to burn the whole continent. “What did you do to Lucy?!” Natsu yelled at him. “Activated a death curse. With each passing second, she comes closer and closer to death. But the curse wasn't designed to be quick, it was meant to take a long period of time, giving the victim an unbearable pain while they suffer” Mard Geer said as he mentally praised himself for his, in his opinion, outstanding work. The raven haired demons smirk was gone when he saw the time on the grand clock.  _ Time really does go by faster when you're having fun _ , he thought as he held his precious book to his chest with one hand. “Our time together has been enjoyable, but I do have a portal to open. Cherish this time while you can, because the human race is coming to an end” Mard Geer said before he disappeared, becoming a shadow and slipping away into the night. Erza glanced around, seeing the terrified faces of her guests.  _ First things first. They have to leave so I can handle this _ , Erza thought. “Alright! Everyone, I know you're scared, but you have to leave! I suggest preparing for a war, just in case!” Erza exclaimed as she lead her guests to the door, where they were filing out. As Erza looked around, she noticed that her son was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Happy. “Where are they?!” Erza shouted, wanting an answer to where her son was. Meanwhile, Natsu was running in one of the stone hallways, Lucy safely in his arms. As soon as Natsu reached the room he was looking for, he broke down the door, waking up a sleeping Mira. “Who there!” Mira exclaimed, sitting up straight from her desk. “Mira! Lucy's in trouble!” Happy said as Natsu came running over to the white haired woman. “What happen?!” Mira asked as she look at Lucy. “She has a death curse! I know you're an expert on this kinda stuff! I need a cure! Fast!” Natsu exclaimed. Mira lead Natsu to a clear table, where she told him to set Lucy down on. Then she grabbed a crystal, telling Natsu that it could tell you if the curse was curable. As she held it above Lucy's heart, the clear crystal turned black. Mira’s eyes started to tear up. “I'm sorry. There is no cure” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. Natsu felt his heart stop. Lucy couldn't die, he just found her and told her he lover her. “No. There has to be another way, don't you have some sort of book?” Natsu asked, causing Mira’s eyes to widen before she walked away and searched for something. When she came back, she was carrying a black, thick book with a silver demon symbol on the cover. “You're a dense genius Natsu” Mira said as she flipped through the pages. “Hey!” Natsu exclaimed” a bit offended by her comment. Mira continued to flip through her book until she found the page she was looking for. “According to this book, the only way to save Lucy is … to defeat the demon who cast the curse in the first place”


	18. Chapter 18

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Natsu looked at the sleeping princess that was lying on the table. To anybody else she would appear to be in a nightmare, but Natsu knew better. He knew that Lucy was in pain, and that he needed to save her. He was her dragon, and she was his princess. And the dragon was supposed to protect the princess in the tower, at least that's how he thought the story went. All he knew at the moment is that there was only one way to protect his princess.  _ I gotta defeat Mard Geer, that's how I can save Lucy _ , the pink haired dragon slayer thought as he faced Mira. “Alright, me and Happy can go in a few minutes” Natsu said with a stern face, his blue exeed friend nodding in agreement “Aye sir. I’ll go pack a bag and let your mom know” Happy said before flying out of the room. “By yourselves?” Mira asked with a worried voice. She knew Natsu wasn't the smartest person, he was more brawn than brains. but going to fight a demon king was just plain stupid. You don't get the name  _ The Underworld King  _ for nothing, a title like that is earned. That demon even gave King Jellal a hard time in their last grand battle. And the late blue haired king was one of the most powerful wizards anyone has ever seen, even in recorded history. “Natsu you can't go alone, he too powerful!” Mira exclaimed. Natsu turned his head towards the white haired seamstress. “Mira, I know you're worried, but I can do this. I'll be back later, everything will be ok in the end. You’ll see” Natsu said as he went for the door. Mira ran in front of him, blocking his path.  _ I have to make him see reason, he can’t just take a flying cat as his only teammate. He needs to form a real team, or at least get a partner _ , the white haired seamstress thought, standing her ground in front of the door.

“Natsu, think reasonably! You're going up against a  _ demon king _ . Not Gray, not your mother, but a demon. You  _ can't _ go alone it would be suicide!”

“I am thinking reasonably! And I'm telling you, I can defeat Mard Geer all on my own!”

“There's more to this. Tell why you want to go alone!”

“I just told you!” 

“So you're going to go and fight a being so powerful, he killed Jellal! Lucy's  _ life _ is a stake Natsu, her life!” 

“That's why I have to go alone! So nobody else gets hurt!”

Natsu's words made Mira freeze.  _ So nobody else gets hurt _ , those words repeated themselves in her mind over and over again. Natsu was risking his life so nobody else would get hurt, and he knew that there was a good chance he wasn’t powerful enough to defeat Mard Geer. Natsu could feel tears starting to form in his eyes, but he pushed them down desperate not to let them be shown. “Lucy got cursed because I didn't think mard Geer was listening. That caused her to be mind controlled, and that lead to the death curse she’s in right now” Natsu told mira, looking down at the ground, unable to look in her blue eyes. The fire dragon slayer's eyes shot open when he felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around him. He saw Mira gently hugging him. “Natsu, I know you're worried about Lucy, and that you not thinking straight. I get it, but don't do something so rash, it do any good. You need to accept the fact that you can't do this with just Happy. As strong as he is, you might as well be alone. You need more help” Mira said softly, like a mother would to her crying child. “But the only people that can help me are the people I care most about. My Mom, even Gray. I don't want them to get hurt” Natsu said while on the verge of tears. Mira pulled away and sighed. “I know, but right now, you three are the only ones who have a chance at defeating that demon. So go,we don't know how much time your princess here has left. And do whatever it takes to stop him. Lucy will be waiting for you when you get back” Mira said before she stepped out of the fire dragons way. Natsu looked behind him, to see Lucy in her sleeping state. “Thanks for the talk Mira, now I have to go defeat some insane demon who's gonna wish he was never born” Natsu grinned evilly before he ran out of the room, leaving Lucy in the hands of the seamstress. As Natsu ran down the dark torch lit hallways, he already knew who he was looking for.  _ Mom and Gray will be in the war room, and if Happy found them he should be there too _ , Natsu thought as he turned a sharp corner, almost knocking over a vase. Meanwhile, Erza was pretty much holding the blue exeed hostage. Ever Since Happy had found them, the scarlet haired queen wasted no time in interrogating the poor cat, wanting to know what the heck was going on, and how her son knew the underworld king and how on earth Lucy was here. Gray just stood there, watching the spectacle while feeling sorry for the exeed. He wanted to help, but he knew better than to try and stop Queen Erza. He learned his lesson more than once and tried to avoid angering the queen at all times. “Thats everything I know Erza! Promise!” Happy exclaimed as he was caught in the murderous gaze of the queen. “Why should I believe you? What more proof do you have?” Erza asked Happy, a sword appearing in her hand, only causing Happy to freak out more. Suddenly, the door opened, gaining everyone's attention. “Cut it out Mom” Natsu said, walking over to the group. “Thank goodness Natsu you're here! What took you so long!” Happy exclaimed as he flew to hide behind Natsu's light pink hair. “I just saved you and your complaining?!” Natsu said to Happy before he face his mother and friend. “Listen I know I have a lot to explain right now, but we don't really have time. If you want, I can explain everything on the way to Mard Geer’s hide out. But we  _ have _ to hurry, Lucy's life depends on itb and possibly the worlds based on what he said at the ball,” Natsu said, a serious expression on his face. Erza and Gray looked at each other. They both had a lot of question that they felt should be answered at this moment. But if the underworld king’s threat was serious, and they were  _ very _ sure it was, they didn't have time for questions that could be answered right after this dilemma. Especially with so many lives on the line. Facing Natsu, the two royals nodded their heads which caused Natsu to grin like a maniac. “Alright, you two can ride your horses or whatever it is you ride. Meanwhile, I’ll have Happy fly me over there with you guys, sound good?” Natsu asked, pointing his thumb at the exeed who was still behind him. Gray sighed, placing his hands on his hips. “I don't trust to leading us to battle, but you know more than us. For once anyways” the ice mage said which caused Natsu to growl at him. A small smile spread across the scarlet haired queens face. “Well, I can't let you two boys go out alone and steal all the fun, now can I?” Erza joked. Natsu stared at his mother and friend while his best friend came into view. Natsu lit up his fist with bright flames, throwing it up in the air. “I'm all fired up now!”


	19. Chapter 19

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The three wizards ran through the castle, Erza ordering everyone to be on the lookout for the demons that were more than likely to show up here soon. When they reached the stables they found two horses already saddled and ready to ride. Gray and Erza thanked the servant and mounted their horses. Happy wrapped his tail around Natu’s torso and gripped his red blood red coat while his pure white wings appeared. Natsu felt himself be lifted off the ground. The pink haired man faced his friend and mother. “Ready?” he asked. The royal mages nodded their heads as they whipped the reins, the horses taking off like a shooting star with Happy and Natsu right on their tail. “So, now that we have time, how exactly did you find this castle?” Erza asked, keeping her stern eyes in the path that the flying blue exeed was leading. It was a bit more tricky riding the horses off the trail in the dead of the night, with the roots and and holes everywhere and what not. “Well, technically Lucy found us” Happy told the group. Gray smirked. “So you mean to tell me that even when you were so close to finding her, you still needed help? Wow, your tracking skills are worse than I thought, even with heightened senses” Gray said, knowing it would make the fire dragon slayer mad. And in this situation, that's exactly what he needed. Being a demon slayer meant that Gray would have the easiest time in battle with Mard Geer, while Natsu would most likely be out of his element. Although many people thought dragon and demon slayers were similar, they were actually different. While dragon slayers had all their senses heightened including strength and speed while taking enormous amount of physical damage, demon slayers had normal senses and lower increased strength and speed along with a sixth sense that allows them to know where a nearby demon is. “Oh yeah?! Well I'll have you know my sense of smell is perfectly fine! Cause I can tell you haven't showered in a week!” Natsu shot back. What did you say to me flame brain!” Gray yelled. No one noticed Erza's eyebrows furrow together in irritation.

“You heard me ice princess!”

“Pyro!”

“Ice block!” 

“Hot head!” 

“Figure skater!”

“It was one year Natsu! One year!”

“Both of you! Shut the  _ hell _ up! We're on a rescue mission and you're both adults, so start acting it or I will turn this group around! Are we clear!” Erza screamed, silencing everybody and all that could be heard was the horses galloping. Natsu and Gray looked at each other before they both sighed. “Yes ma’am” they answered, not looking at each other. Erza sighed, looking between the fire mage and the ice mage. “Look, you both are so powerful. You guys are one of the strongest people I know, and Natsu knows that means something. Someone- no,  _ everyone's  _ life is at stake here. And this burden is on our shoulders. Gray, I know you were trying to help Natsu. He fights best when he's angry, but we can't afford any of your rivalry right now. Right now we need to fight for the people we  _ love _ . No matter what”

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Mard Geer was at the shore of the pond, where a small Wendy was in a cage that was placed a few feet behind him. Wendy had been trying to break out of the infernal cage ever since she woke up after she and Lucy were knocked out. And she knew if she stopped, the only other thing she could do was watch Mard Geer carry out his sick plan. “Why do you try to break free from your prison even though you know it won't do you any good?” the raven haired demon asked, looking at the small owl. “Because it's better than watching you carrying out your sick little plan” Wendy answered simply, but with plenty of venom. Mard Geer’s face turned into a amused one. “That’s a very brave thing for you to say. Considering your predicament” Mard Geer said before he went to turn his head towards his book. Wendy groan as she banged her head against the bars of the cage. Looking up with aggravated eyes, Wendy noticed a branch that appeared to be close enough to grab.  _ I haven't tried picking the lock with a branch yet, and it looks it could work _ , the white owl thought as she quietly stuck her claw out of the cage. She had tried picking the lock with her own talons, but they were too big and the lock was too small. She learned that the hard way went to broke her tallon. With all the events happening tonight, she was near both her breaking point, and her sanity point. The branch was just out of her reach.  _ So close yet so far! _ , Wendy thought, irritated by the fact that she was so close. Pulling her claw back in, she looked at the demon who was busy preparing his portal. He seemed to be distracted enough, she'd just have to be quiet. Wendy took a deep breath, hoping this worked alright in the end. She reached out of the cage and gripped the ground, and tried to pull herself towards the branch. She knew she was a strong wizard, but she lacked actual strength since she focused on learning new spells more than actual human strength. Wendy tried time and time again, hoping to get closer to the branch. While she was busy with her mini mission, Mard Geer was flipping through the pages looking for the curse he needed at the moment. “Torture curse, sleeping curse, mind curse, creation curse, death curse, nightshade curse… This is getting infuriating. I can't do this all night, this is going to drive me insane. I just want to know how to make the cursed portal!” Mard geer said as his book suddenly flipped its pages to the spot its master was looking for. Mard Geer smiled as he read the page. “That's more I like it” Mard Geer said as he glanced at the pond, its waters crystal clear. “This will be big enough” the underworld king said as he summoned a vine with thorns. As Mard Geer walked closer to the shore of the large pond, he gripped the vines until he drew blood, his hand being slashed open. As he stood just before the water, the raven haired demon held his bleeding hand over the water, letting it drip into the water, turning it red. “Oh Lord Zeref, I call upon you and your spirit. Please hear my plea, hear my call. Open the gates of the underworld so that your children may pass through to this world and spread chaos!” the underworld king chanted, his eyes glowing a light purple as the pond swirled into a whirlpool which started to glow. The faster the water went, the brighter it became until it was a beacon of light. Wendy watched in horror as this went down in front of her. She couldn't stop this, no one could. Now she had lost all hope. It got worse as a figure washed up on shore, standing up on the sand. Her head was mostly concealed by a helmet the that allowed her face, and a pair of a sickly green ears covered on fur on the side of her head. Her hands, if you could call them that, were giant armored claws, while her feet seemed to belong to a reptile, the green scales wet and covered in sand. Her clothes were hinted to burned and tattered, but otherwise fine. She opened her eyes to reveal navy blue eyes, and bowed. “Mard Geer! Thank you for setting me free!” she said before Mard Geer stepped in front of her. “Your welcome Kyôka. But now is not the time to be down on your knees. I need a favor if you wish to stay in this world and destroy the human race” Mard Geer said with an evil smirk on his face. Kyôka stood up and smiled at her superior. “With pleasure” The three mages were getting closer and closer to the old castle where their enemy was, feeling ready for whatever that may await them there. After the speech Erza made, Natsu and Gray decided to put their rivalry away just for tonight, deciding that they could always settle the score after all this was over. After all, the ice and fire mages were only two parts if a team, and Erza couldn't fight a demon alone.  _ Well, actually she could. After all, if powerful enough, a demon can kill another demon _ , Happy thought as he flew in the air, dodging tree branches and vines that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. He could see Natsu turning his head slightly every once a while, looking around and listening carefully for anything that could be a possible threat. Gray was focusing on his sixth sense, trying to sense a demon anywhere near the group if there even was one. Erza was looking ahead of her, keeping her eyes on the dark path in front of her. Everything was as calm as it could be until a bright purple light seemed to explode, frightening the horses Erza and Gray were on. The two wizards struggled to keep their horses calm, pulling on the reins to try and keep them from being bucked off. But it was no use as the horses stood fully on their hind legs, causing Gray and Erza to fall off right on their backs. Happy came to a stop, backing up as fast as he could. “Are you guys ok?” the blue exeed asked, looking down at the two royals while setting Natsu down and hovering next to Natsu’s head. “No, we're just dandy” Gray said sarcastically while sitting up while rubbing the back of his head. “What was that?” Natsu asked, looking in the direction where the light was coming from. “I don’t know, but whatever it was it can’t be good” Erza said as she and Gray stood up next to Natsu. “But judging by the situation we’re in, I’d say Mard Geer had something to do with it” Erza continued, looking at Natsu. “You mean, he’s already figured out how to open the portal?!” Gray asked, his eyes wide in amazement and horror. If he already figured out how to open a portal, then that would mean more demons, not to mention the amount of power it took to open the portal itself. Gray was starting to wonder if he could even beat this guy. “Of course, why wouldn't he. He  _ is  _ the most powerful demon in creation. And here I thought he would of been able to do it sooner. Took longer than I thought” Erza said facing Gray with stern eyes. “Wait a minute you thought-” Gray said, not having anytime to finish before Erza tackled him and Natsu down, saving them from a strange green blast. When Erza heard the small explosion go off, she opened her eyes to see the ground behind them torn apart, dirt, grass, and even pieces of wood everywhere. As Erza stood up, allowing Natsu and Gray to do the same, Natsu instantly looked frantically around. “Happy! Where are you!” Natsu yelled, not seeing the blue exeed anywhere. “Down here” Happy said in a horse and quiet voice. He was laying on his stomach, dirt, burn marks, and scratches everywhere on his body. He looked up at Natsu with half opened eyes. “Happy, what happened to you?” Natsu said in a worried voice, before an evil laugh was heard. It seemed to be coming from all around, causing the three mages to look around for the source of the voice. But all they saw was darkness. “Your friend there is in pain, so much that even breathing makes him feel all his bone are broken” the voice said, once again coming from all directions. Erza was glaring in every direction, looking for the voice. “Show yourself coward!” the scarlet haired queen shouted, her hands tightening into fists. “Very well, I suppose you might as well see who your future killer is” voice said.  Kyôka stepped into what little light there was, her navy blue eyes looking black as sin. “It seems we haven’t met. I’m Kyôka, one of the nine demon gates. And I already know who you three are, Mard Geer filled me in before giving the task of your death” Kyôka said, a sickening look in her eyes. The look she gave told the three wizards that the demon in front of was looking forward to her “task”, if you could even call it that. It was more of an assassination, murder, homicide, anything along those lines. But the fact that she might enjoy it, that was what really disgusted them. Kyôka smirked, already knowing what they were thinking. “You might as well surrender now. I’ll even make it quick if you do, showing mercy” the demon said, placing her armored claws on her hips while a smirk made it’s way on her face. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna happen anytime soon. I promised my mother that I would live life for her when she died, plus I got a annoying older brother in another kingdom. So I’m sure as hell not dying anytime soon” Gray said with venom in his voice, and if looks could kill, Kyôka would be dead on the ground. “Oh I assure you, hell is real. But us demons call it The Underworld” Kyôka said, correcting Gray. The ice mage just narrowed his eyes at her. If this was just  _ one _ of the hundreds of demons that were on their way over to this world, he want to meet anymore. “Well, enough chit chat, I might as well finish my task quickly in case Mard Geer needs me to do more” Kyôka said simply, a green electric energy flowing from her armored claw. Erza stepped forward, a bright light slowly engulfing her entire body. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let that happen. You see you didn’t only hurt my son’s  _ cat _ , but you threatened our lives. Something we humans don’t take lightly. So I’ll just have to take you down” the queen said as the light suddenly disappeared, revealing a dark gold armor that fit her body perfectly. The emblem of her kingdom on her shoulders, shield, which was in her hand, while a giant spear was in her other. Her hair was put up in a ponytail, but it didn’t stop her bangs from covering her entire right eye. Natsu and Gray looked at her with horrified eyes. She only wore her Piercing Armor when she meant  _ war _ .  _ Shit, this chick is as good as dead! _ , Natsu thought inside his head, a scared look on his face. Kyôka seemed unfazed about this, which blew the two prince’s minds. Then again, she never met Erza.  _ Mavis, she’s going to regret ever running into Erza _ , Gray thought. Erza put her shield in front of her while she prepared to her spear. “Natsu, Gray. I want you to go find and defeat Mard Geer. Happy will be safe with me. I promise” Erza said as she glared at Kyôka. “No way! We can’t-” Natsu argued before he was cut off by his mother. “I said now!” Erza screamed, not moving her glare from Kyôka. Natsu looked between his mother and the demon in front of them. The fire dragon slayer looked at the ground before he gave his answer. “Don’t you go dying on me, you hear! You still gotta give Lucy away at the wedding! Plus… life won’t be the same without you” Natsu said before he ran off, Gray following him close behind. 


	20. Chapter 20

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Kyôka’s face changed from calm and collected, to furious and dangerous as he saw the two wizards run away. “I can’t let you leave!” she screamed as she attempted to shoot them with them with her green electricity. But before she could even aim it in their direction, she was knocked back on the ground with a large explosion. Erza had thrown her spear, ready for an oncoming attack any second. Everything was silent as Erza stood there. Then Kyôka shot out of all the dust, pinning the queen to the ground by her throat. Kyôka gazed at Erza with an insane look in her eyes, while her grip tightened ever so slightly. “Finally, a worthy opponent! This will be a challenge, and after I kill you… then your brats are next!” Kyôka screamed. It as if something had been lit inside the queen, something that gave her strength. Erza punched her in the face, causing the demon to let go of her hold on the scarlet queen. “OVER MY DEAD BODY! BY THE TIME I’M DONE WITH YOU, YOU’LL WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!” Erza screamed back, her eyes practically glowing red. At that moment Queen Scarlet knew what gave her strength. It was the desire to protect her son, Gray, Happy, and Lucy. And she wasn’t going to let anybody down, even if the cost was her own life. 

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Natsu and Gray were sprinting past the trees, Natsu looking for the willow trees the gave away the location of Mard Geer. “Hey Gray, you sense anything or something?” Natsu asked, looking at his friend. “I’m trying, but I don’t really know how that works if I’m being honest. I feel bad enough that I couldn’t sense that demon  Kyôka, so I’m trying harder. But I don’t think it’s something you can force” Gray explained. “Gees, I thought you were a Demon Slayer. Even I know everything about a dragon and what to expect when I fight one. And I’ve never even met one!” Natsu exclaimed, annoying the ice mage. “Well I’m sorry I don’t know how my powers work when I never even heard of a demon out of the underworld!” Gray shouted at Natsu, a vein close to popping on his forehead. Natsu’s hand suddenly shot in front of Gray, making him stop dead in his tracks. Natsu stared at the willow trees that acted as a wall between the abandon castle and the rest of the world. Natsu’s eyes narrowed, he could and Gray could feel the magic energy the portal to the underworld was giving off. Natsu put his finger up against his lips, telling him to be quiet.

“Is that-”

“Yeah, it is”

“You scared?” 

“Terrified. Absolutely. Terrified”

Gray’s eyes widened at this statement, knowing the pink haired fire dragon slayer was never one to admit he was scared. Sure, the raven haired ice wizard was scared too, no doubt. But even when Natsu’s own mother fought him as punishment for sneaking out to train, he would say that it was the least scariest thing in the world. “Don’t worry, we’ll beat this guy” Gray said placing his hand on his friend's shoulder. Natsu gave a small smile and nodded before he walked forward towards the willows. When Natsu finally stepped past the willow trees, he could see the portal. He could see the water swirling faster than he had ever thought possible.  _ So that’s what caused that explosion before that chick ran into us _ , Natsu thought. Everything seemed quiet, but not a comfortable quiet, a quiet where you were expecting to be attacked at any second. Then, Gray felt it. As if he was struck by lightning. Immediately he shoved Natsu to the ground, nearly getting taken out by a strange light and dark glowing orb shot at them. By the time Gray looked up and the old crumbling castle had already lost three towers, which came tumbling down. “I’m impressed. No one has been able to dodge any of my attacks before” a voice said from above, causing the two wizards to look up. Natsu’s eyes practically lit up with his own flames when he saw Mard Geer standing on top of one of the taller willow trees. A tiny smile edged on his pale face. “Mard Geer” Natsu growled, glaring at the raven haired demon. “So Kyôka let you escape? That means she’s being held up by that pathetic queen of yours. No matter, the queen will die eventually” Mard Geer said, anger in his eyes. Natsu couldn’t help the smirk that came onto his face. “Clearly, you haven’t met my Mom. If anything, I’d say Kyôka is good as dead. Especially if she pissed her off. I sure would hate to be in her shoes right now” Natsu said as he and Gray stood up, the fire dragons hands being engulfed in flames. “You could say that again!” Gray exclaimed with a sly smile. The air growing as cold as winter, their breath’s becoming visible as well as the air itself in white clouds. “Erza's not going to be beat by some demon anytime soon” Gray said as his right forearm began to be covered in black marking, representing his Demon Slayer magic. Mard Geer’s face became what at first looked calm, but then Natsu and Gray realized that it was fear. The markings on the ice demon slayer’s arm let the raven haired demon know  _ exactly _ what he was up against. But it didn’t stay long, being replaced by a small smile. “So you're the Ice Demon Slayer I heard about. I can’t help but be disappointed, I expected more” Mard Geer said a second before a ice blast shooting mere centimeters past his head.  _ Lord Zeref. Human’s really know how to irritate you further _ , Gray had an enraged face, his hand aimed right at the demon. “Say that again and I won’t miss next time” Gray said as he glared. “Why? I was only speaking the obvious,” Mard Geer said, smirking. Gray gritted his teeth, glaring at the raven haired demon. “But since you showed me your power, I’ll show you mine” Mard Geer said as the ground shook, and giant vines sprouted from the earth, covered in massive thorns as tall as the demon who summoned them in the first place. As they shot into the sky as fast as light, the vines made a sharp turn towards the demon and dragon slayers. Just as they came crashing onto them, they became completely covered in light sparkling demonic purple ice. Mard Geer looked down at at his arm to find it encased in the very same ice, before it expanded into a ice crystal bigger than the castle itself, not too far away. “Great job Gray!” Natsu said with a smile. Gray didn’t smile, only took another fighting stance. “Get ready. When he breaks out, you burn him with those flames of yours” Gray said coldly. “Huh?” Natsu asked, looking at Gray with a confused face. Suddenly, the ice crystal that hold the underworld king inside burst into hundreds of pieces, huge blocks of ice every where. “Now Natsu!” Gray shouted at the fire dragon. “Fire Dragon Roar!” Natsu said as flames spewed from his mouth, much like a dragon. No  _ exactly  _ like a dragon. The ice and fire mage grinned. But their smiles vanished the second the fire and smoke cleared. Mard Geer stood tall. His clothes burned, his hair messed up, and his pale skin scratched all over his face and hands. “I normally try to avoid human emotions like fear, envy, sadness. But most of all…  _ anger _ . Because it is an emotion that can transform a person entirely. But for you two humans, I’ll make an exception!” Mard Geer shouted as he began to grow. The bigger he became, the more that he changed, the less human he appeared. His skin once pale seemed to become an otherworldly metallic and he grew enormous wings. His hands and legs turned from human to animalistic. And his head turned into the head of that of a beast. “This,” Mard Geer said. “Is my etherious form!” 

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Erza was in the toughest battle of her life. Her limbs hurt, and she was starting to feel the painful effects of the deadly blows she took from  Kyôka. She was in her black wing armor, which gave her something like a power boost. It was cracked and broken, and one of her many swords was in iron shards on the ground. Kyôka standing over her. “I don’t plan on losing, so you're only making your death more painful” she said as she tried to punch the queen, but missed since Erza quickly moved off of the ground. “Fairy Tail Armor!” Erza exclaimed as she changed into a pink and silver white armor, with another matching sword in hand. “The reason I fight it for my family, but what do you fight for!” Erza shouted at she swung her sword at Kyôka, a trail of light following it. “For The Underworld of course!” Kyôka said as that green electricity formed in her hands. “And I’ve been denying you my full strength when you’ve been giving me your all! I’ll have to change that!” she shouted as her claws grew longer, and her horned grew bigger, making them wrapped around her head which caused her helmet to brake. “And now, this is really over! In this form, my power will just keep on increasing with no limit!” Kyôka screamed as she struck Erza, breaking her armor and her sword. Suddenly, she was covered in Kyôka’s electricity, causing her to scream. “That’s my curse, ‘Strengthening’. And the other one is something I like to call, electric pain. It’s the same kind of pain that your cat friend has. Only, your pain sensitivity is lower” Kyôka said as Erza fell to the ground. “It also gives me the ability to take away the sense. First you’ll lose taste. Then smell. Then feel,” Kyôka explained, Erza losing each sense as the demon called them. Erza shook as he lost each one. “Then  _ sight _ .” Kyôka laughed. “And finally… your hearing” Kyôka said as Erza’s world fell into darkness and silence. He was floating in a sea of white, and she could hear the past voices of her son in the distance. Then all the memories of her son seemed to pass by. Teaching him magic, showing him how to dance, cook, fight, him finding Happy, meeting Lucy for the first time, and when she held him for the very first time.Even though she couldn’t feel anything, she knew she was crying.  _ This isn’t a bad why to die. I’m seeing my child right before I go… _ , Erza thought as she watched herself teach Natsu how to read. It wasn’t the smoothest of time, but at least he could read and write in three days. It just took  _ a lot _ of yelling. Just as she felt she was going to die, she heard a voice loud and clear. 

_ “Don’t you go dying on me, you hear! You still gotta give Lucy away at the wedding! Plus… life won’t be the same without you” _

Outside of her mind, Kyôka was laughing as she looked at Erza’s cry without a single sound. “I-I c-can see you” Erza whispered. 

“No”

“No matter… what you steal from me…,” Erza whispered as she slowly stood up. “...no one can take away the light… that shine on my path!” Erza yelled as she stood up. Erza’s broken armor changed into simple clothing, something that surprised and confused Kyôka. “There’s a light inside of me that you can’t hide from, and it will be what _kills you_,_ not me_!” Erza yelled as she punched the demon in the face. _I have nothing to fear_, another punch. _This doesn’t even count as pain_, two powerful punches, knocking Kyôka to the ground. Kyôka couldn’t speak. _WHY AM I BEING TAKEN DOWN BY MERE PUNCHES?! THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE MAGIC BEHIND THEM!_ _HOW COULD SHE EVEN STAND, HOW COULD SHE EVEN KNOW WHERE SHE IS?!_, the demon thought as she barely managed to get back up. Erza summoned two swords, striking the demon in an ‘x’ formation. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Kyôka couldn’t feel anything but pain, she lost. _I’m sorry Mard Geer_, the demon thought as she started to fall backwards. _She’s too powerful,_ was Kyôka’s last thought before she turned into nothing. Erza saw and heard the forest, and she would never take it for granted. _I lived for you, Natsu_, Erza thought as she fell to the ground unconscious.

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The portal had only grown brighter, and the water looked as if it wasn't even moving at all, which didn’t help the two wizards one bit. Natsu and Gray were having their faces dragged across the ground in each of Mard Geer’s claws, the bits of rocks adding to numerous cuts they had. They had been in the same state Erza had previously been in, beaten batters within an inch of their life. But it didn’t get rid of Natsu's fighting spirit. “It’s gonna take more than that to stop us!” Natsu exclaimed. “Yeah! We’ve survived worse shit that this!” Gray said, his hands gripping Mard Geer’s arm. Their eyes snapped open as they both punched the sides of his head, causing a giant magical explosion and Mard Geer fall to the ground, only to rise again and throw the two wizards the the ground. The demon used his strange light and a beacon shot towards Natsu and Gray. “Fire Dragon Roar!” Natsu shouted, fire exploding from his mouth. Mard Geer covered his eyes, dodging the attack. Gray glares at him. “Ice Demon Rage!” Gray shouted, a chilling magic beam shooting from his hands. Mard Geer growled as he pointed two fingers at his enemies. Tangled vines came from the earth and sped towards them. Natsu’s fist were covered in fire while Gray’s in ice. As the punched their way through, Gray looked over at Natsu.

“Holding up?!”

“Yeah!”

“Good to know!”

“Man, what is up with this guy, is he immortal or something?!”

“No, but close! I just have to get a clear shot at him with my magic!”

“Got it!” 

The vines were either burning or frozen by the time that they were done. Mard Geer let out a terrible roar, landing on the rubble that scattered the ground. “I must admit, I’m impressed by your strength and effort to try and vanquish me,” Mard Geer said, Natsu and Gray glaring at him. “And now it’s my turn to entertain you” the underworld king said as a dark aura formed around his hands. “You see, curses are different from your magic. It is directly made from the number of sins one has committed, and is channeled into what is now known as curses” Mard Geer explained. “In that case magic will always be more powerful!” Natsu shouted. “Natsu…” Gray said looking down. The fire dragon looked down to see the same aura from Mard Geer’s hands creeping towards them from the ground. Gray watched aura move closer and closer.  _ Is it some sort of fog? No, it’s giving off a lot of power _ , the ice demon slayer thought. “The Era of Magic is over. Starting tonight, it is now the Era of Curses. And this curse I’m casting on you could kill Zeref himself” Mard Geer told Natsu and Gray as the aura finally reach their feet. The second it touched them, they couldn’t move. And as it started to creep up, they could feel the pain it caused. Eventually it covered them whole. “It was nice knowing you while you lasted” the demon said as the dark aura became a giant beacon of light, no doubt being seen from mile and miles around. The pink and raven haired men shut their eyes. This was it. They were going to die. They should have known that this would happen... something as miraculous as that can only happen in fairy tales. Suddenly, all the light disappeared. When Natsu regained his sight, Mard Geer had the widest eyes he ever saw. “How did you survive! How!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “Hey… Natsu,” Gray croaked, causing Natsu to turn to him. Natsu’s heart stopped. Half of Gray’s body was pitch black, with one eye red. And at that moment, Natsu knew what he did. He  _ absorbed _ the curse to save him. “Make sure to give this guy hell” Gray said as he fell forward. Natsu was on the verge of tears, his body shaking with anger. “First Lucy, then Gray. Who know’s what state my Mom’s in. I am going to give you so much more than hell!” Nast said as he ran up to Mard Geer and punched him upward, into the sky. The fire dragon shot up like a rocket, using his flames as a boost. Blood red scales started to form around his body, his eyes turning red as his right hand grow into a claw, while also growing in size. And finally a huge wing formed in his right side.  _ So this it it… _ , Mard Geer thought looking at the pink haired man.  _ A dragon slayer's most powerful form, _ , he thought, a bit of fear running through him. “Dragon Force!” Natsu shouted, flames filling the sky, as his fire covered body punched, clawed, and burned the demon with no mercy. Natsu could feel the amount of power running threw him, and it was unlike anything he ever felt before. All that time training must have been paying off, because it’s almost like his body knew exactly what to do.  _ I will not be defeated by a mere human! _ , Mard Geer thought as he striked Natsu, not damaging him much. Hit after hit, the fire dragon took it all in. “Fire Dragon Iron Fist! Talon! Kick! Flaming elbow! Wing Attack!” Natsu shouted, committing each attack as he called them. “Fire Dragon Secret Art! Flame Lotus Exploding Flame Blade!” Natsu cried as an explosion of fire was unleashed. which would have broken the sky itself if it could. Mard Geer to fell from the sky and onto the ground. Natsu’s eyes closed, have using up any magic energy he had left, turning back to normal. He fell from the sky, also falling to the ground. He was down for the count. The underworld king saw this, and knew it was his chance. Mard Geer slowly made his way to his feet and walked over to him. “Now I can kill you!” Mard Geer yelled in rage as he lifted his claw to slay the fire dragon. Just as he was about to kill the pink haired man, a ice arrow sliced clean through him. Mard Geer was frozen place as his body turned to ice, feeling like his skin was having frostbite etched into it. “Bet you thought absorbing that curse killed me, huh?” Gray asked in a teasing tone of voice. “Thanks for the clear shot Natsu” Gray said as the portal lost it’s bright glow and the water settled down. Mard Geer’s body was now completely made of ice, which cracked and broke into a million pieces. It was over. They won. Mard Geer was dead, the portal was closed and as the sun rose, they team could now head home.

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Natsu burst into Mira’s workroom, fully healed. The sun was barely off the horizon, but that didn’t stop him from running all the way back home. “Lucy!” Natsu exclaimed with a bright smile in his face, almost falling on his face. Mira turned her head towards Natsu. “Mira! Guess what! He beat Mard Geer! Stopped the portal and saved Lucy!” Natsu told Mira, not noticing the tears in her crystal blue eyes. Natsu’s smile instantly disappeared when he did see it. “Hey what’s wrong?” Natsu asked causing Mira to break down. “...She died…” the white haired women somehow managed to whisper. Natsu froze in his place. Mira’s words seemed to replay in his head over and over again.

_ “...She died…” _

Natsu looked over at Lucy, her face looked almost peaceful. He only wished that were the case. He couldn’t hear anything. Mira continued to cry, trying not to completely lose it. “I'll leave you alone” she whispered, slowly walking out of the room. Natsu stared at Lucy’s body. He walked over to the table her body was at, his eyes tearing up. He tried to plaster a bright smile on his face, but it was hard when he was about to break down any second. “H-hey there Luce! We beat that bastard up for you. I roughed h-him up pretty good, killed him in fac-fact!” Natsu tried to say, but tears were getting in way of his words. The fire dragon stood there for a few minutes, trying to control emotions. It didn’t last long though, he couldn’t hold in his sobs, crying next to Lucy as tears flowed from his eyes. “I-I'm s-s-sorry Lucy! I tried so hard to save you! But I failed! A-and I almost lost everybody I ever cared about!” Natsu cried, looking at Lucy. He wanted to save her so bad. He wanted _a life_ with her. He wanted to marry her. He wanted kids, and christmas dinner, and embarrassing their Uncle Gray when he came over. He wanted to grow old with her. But now none of that could happen. _None _of it. Natsu wiped away his tears with his hand. “I’m supposed to be a Dragon Slayer. Yet I couldn't even protect the princess that I love in the tower” Natsu said quietly as he leaned in and rested his forehead against Lucy’s, placing his hand on top of her blond hair. “_I love you_” Natsu whispered before he gently kissed the blond haired women. As he kissed her lips, Natsu soon felt a hand gently comb through his soft pink hair. His eyes shot wide open to see Lucy with tears in her beautiful brown eyes and a smile on her face. “I love you too Natsu” Lucy told the fire dragon. “Lucy!” Natsu shouted as he picked her up bridal style and swung her in circles. Lucy laughed while crying tears of joy, her arms wrapped around his neck. She was finally set down on her feet. “Alright, not I've learned my lesson enough times, so I'm not gonna waste any time,” Natsu said as he grabbed her arms and made her face him. “You know Lucy, I've known you since we were kids and we've been on lots of adventures. Well, not happy ones since we hated each other back then, but that's not the point! I’ve recently discovered life is short. So like I said, I won't waste any time. So, Princess Lucy, will you give me the honor, of frightening you everyday. For the rest of your life. Every. Day” Natsu said as he gazed into her eyes, with a serious voice. Lucy laughed, only Natsu would propose like that. “Yes!”


	21. Epilogue

>   
  
  
  
  
  

> 
> Natsu was waiting on the altar, wearing his new wedding suite that Mira had made. Both he and Lucy were surprised to find out that the blue eyed seamstress  _ already _ had a fully made suit and wedding dress tucked away in her secret closet. Once everybody found out Lucy was alive, there was  _ a lot _ of happy crying. Especially from Mira, she held Lucy to her heart like she was life itself. And then everybody cheered when Lucy told them that Natsu asked her to marry him. They drank, Natsu and Gray fought and Happy was the only sober one that night. When the group all woke up the next morning, they found out that the blue excess had drawn on their faces. It was a fun night. Natsu wiped his forehead, which was starting to get sweaty. Gray formed a clear ice cube in his hand and handed it to the groom. “Thanks bud!” Natsu said as he ate the ice cube in tone bite, instantly calming down. “Terrified?” Gray asked. “Heck no. That’s an understatement” Natsu replied. “Well don’t be, it’s starting” Gray whispered as the doors to the cathedral they were in opened. Natsu’s heart stopped.  _ Wow _ , Natsu thought as he looked at Lucy. The dress she was wearing made her look like she stepped out of a fairy tail. I mean, fairytale. As Erza had her arm linked with Lucy, behind them was Wendy as the flower girl. But she was human. She had long navy blue hair and a green and blue dress. Next to her was a white exeed names Carla. After she was turned human and word spread across the world, Carla showed up more worried than anything. And when Wendy saw her friend, they both broke down in happy tears and ran to each other and hugged like the other was about to disappear. They both found the person they were looking for. Needless to say, it was a happy moment. As Lucy finally made her way to the altar, Erza hugged the bride and groom before she stood in between them. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage between two kingdoms, two people, and two lovers. Now, personally, I've waited what, almost twenty years for this wedding. And It’s been… challenging. Thats for sure!” Erza told everybody. “But that all paid off. Because with those long years of waiting, I got to see these beautiful, wonderful children grow up” Erza said, tearing up. “And that has been a gift. Something that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. And since I can’t talk anylonger without crying, let's hear the “I do’s” please!” Erza exclaimed, wiping her eyes and calming herself down. “Prince Natsu, do you take Princess Lucy to hold her and protect her, love her in sickness and health? Even you have either everything or nothing? Even if it meant going through everything you went threw three days ago, do you take Lucy was you wife?” Erza asked. Before Natsu could answer, Happy jumped in front of him. “Of course he does. He lllllloooooooooooovvves her!” the blue exeed yelled, causing Natsu to glare at him with a deadly blush on his face.  _ I’ll kill you later Happy _ , Natsu thought. “Alright, thanks for answering Happy. Now Princess Lucy. Do yo-” Erza said before she was cut off by the bride. “I do!” Lucy's exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Natsu's neck and kissed him. “Well someone's impatient” Erza muttered. Lucy and Natsu parted as the cathedral was filled with cheers.
> 
> ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆
> 
> Natsu was dancing with Lucy out in the garden, away from everyone. They could still hear the music. They were laughing at the funny memories they were bringing back up into the light. “Hey Luce?” Natsu asked as he twirled the bride. “Yeah?” Lucy replied as she smiled brightly. “I love you” Natsu said as he held her close. Lucy closed her eyes and leaned up. “I’ll love you far longer than forever” she whispered before she kissed him. And Natsu would too, they both would. Their love would last far longer than forever.


End file.
